


not what you think

by gwanshim



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Decisions, Bad Jokes, Comedy, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Awkward, Mild Language, lowkey side soonhoon is not as major, mingyu is weird and unreliable don't trust him, side verkwan and junhao is kind of major, wonu just wants to live tbh but nobody lets him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:44:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7038994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwanshim/pseuds/gwanshim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wonwoo is just your regular broke uni student trying to earn enough cash to feed himself, and the unfortunate soul who's assigned to help Kim Mingyu – their new barista – on his first day. Wonwoo's not prepared, however, to be thrust into an impromptu kiss with the new guy in a convoluted attempt to avoid the girl who'd asked him out the day before. Wonwoo <em>knows</em> he's screwed up, but how much? Honestly, he's not exactly sure about that either.</p><p>(The university/coffee shop au where Wonwoo makes terrible life decisions, and isn't sure whether Kim Mingyu is one of them.)</p><p>// This is never going to get updated I'm so sorry I don't ship wongyu anymore sue me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. a little like this

**Author's Note:**

> ✰ Hello all, it's me, I'm (sort of?) back, with like, meanie romcom coffee shop au.  
>  ✰ This is posted on my AFF account and I had all intentions to keep it there and only there but then I started asking myself like, "I'm more active on AO3 so why the hell not?" and I also haven't posted anything else this month so I decided hell, why not? I'll post this on AO3 too just before the month is over.  
>  ✰ There's already chapters posted on AFF! So I'm gonna be updating regularly (once a week?) until I get to the latest chapter - so it'll keep my account semi-active while I'm working on other things hopefully, hahahaha.  
>  ✰ This was started as a chill fic that I didn't have to worry about making coherent or anything and was basically an experiment to see how cliche and gross I could make it but I accidentally became invested and yeah...  
>  ✰ Also Lovelyz's Sujeong rears her pretty little head quite a bit in the first few chapters, but I assure you it is not in vain.  
>  ✰ I had JunHao and SoonHoon in the tags before but I've decided to remove them because I'm not going to follow their relationship much in this fic even though they _are_ pretty present. It's mostly a meanie storyline with occasional side seungsol/verkwan? so JunHao and SoonHoon are here, just not followed in any particular detail and are really just supporting. Other idol cameos will be present, and so will the rest of Seventeen!  
>  ✰ Anyway yeah, I hope y'all enjoy this. Tbh it's fun to write this fic when I'm in the mood even though it's not really up to my usual standard but it's just really chill hahahaha.

It’s a gloomy Monday afternoon after classes and 19-year-old literature major Jeon Wonwoo is stuck behind the counter of his campus Starbucks, lazily making orders for half-asleep students and waiting for the new trainee – who was _supposed_ to start his shift at least ten minutes ago – to show up. It’s barely a trickle of customers through the door; the odd couple coming in for a date, or a tired student with too many assignments looking for a caffeine boost. Ultimately, it’s not that big of a deal that the new guy hasn’t shown up yet, but Wonwoo is probably one of the most impatient people _ever,_ and he’s completely on edge about it until Boo Seungkwan - ‘employee of the year’ and their store manager’s favourite worker for unknown reasons - pulls him aside and hands him a flat white.

“So,” Seungkwan whispers, taking a small sip of his own caramel latte, and Wonwoo wonders how the boy can drink something so sickeningly sweet without feeling sick, “it’s nearly _that_ time.” Wonwoo winces a little when he takes a sip of his hot coffee and lets his eyes wander to the door. _That_ time. As in _her_  time.That goddamn regular who strangely, tried to ask Wonwoo out on a date the day before. Wonwoo had honestly never turned down a girl before, and she had been ungracefully shot down because Wonwoo was in fact, very _very_ gay. Of course, he didn’t actually tell her that.

“Do you think she’d even come back today?” Wonwoo asks, blowing on his coffee so he doesn’t burn himself next time he tries to drink it. Seungkwan just shrugs and downs the rest of his latte in one go. Wonwoo wants to gag.

“You just told her you were in a committed relationship,” Seungkwan tells him, throwing the cup out into the trash, “she doesn’t really seem like the type to give up just because of that either.”

Wonwoo groans. “I don’t really wanna see her again after that,” he sighs and puts his cup down on the counter before leaning against it and looking out over the store. “She said she’d come back every day and ask again and maybe then I’d fall for her or something.” Seungkwan laughs and hits him on the back before disappearing into the back for a moment and coming back out with a large, fresh tea-towel. There are only about seven people left in the store by the time Wonwoo's done blowing on his coffee; four of which are part of a couple. He checks the time on the cashier and he figures he has about ten minutes until that girl comes back and ruins his day even more.

“Grow up, Wonwoo,” Seungkwan gripes and punches him in the arm playfully, “she probably comes here for the amazingly great coffee, not you.”

“Yeah, sure. And that's why she asked the coffee on a date and why I'm not completely embarrassed by the whole thing,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath and reaches down to pick up his coffee and take another sip. He’s thankful when he doesn’t burn himself but it’s way too quiet in the shop for a split second where everything dies down. He leans against the front counter on his elbows, staring out over the shop, and it’s so eerie. The fridge goes silent, the customers stop talking, the machines stop humming, and Wonwoo can _feel_ something is going to go wrong, but just doesn’t know _what_.

There’s a loud ringing from the bell attached to the door and suddenly, there’s a tall, rather attractive, and very flustered boy barrelling through into the shop, completely dishevelled and utterly panicked. Wonwoo doesn’t really know what the hell just happened, so he brings his coffee to his lips and takes a very, very long sip. He kind of looks familiar, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. The boy looks over at him, then at Seungkwan right behind him, and then back at Wonwoo. He stills for a moment before striding over to the counter, throwing his backpack onto the surface right next to Wonwoo’s head and giving possibly the deepest bow he has ever seen in his entire life.

“I’m so extremely sorry that I’m late please don’t fire me yet!” The guy almost fucking _yells_ right there in the shop – and Wonwoo has to stand up and take a step back so his ears don’t give out on him and give him hearing problems. He can imagine Seungkwan cringing behind him, and Seungcheol the dishwasher guy poking his head out of his little washer room. The customers are all staring in their direction and Wonwoo feels like he wants to cry. He looks at the boy - gives him a good once over - but he’s not exactly sure what to make of him. So this was the new guy? Great. Late as hell on his first day and unnecessarily loud.

“Why're _you_ late?” Seungkwan pipes up, walking up to the counter next to Wonwoo, and the kid finally stands back up straight and my god is he tall. At least we’ll have someone who can reach the top shelves now, Wonwoo thinks. Jihoon can barely reach the middle shelves.

“I got held back for a while in class and I couldn’t get out of it, I’m so sorry,” the kid spits out, giving another quick bow and his voice is so much quieter now so Wonwoo lets out a sigh of relief. It sounds nice, he guesses, when the new guy isn’t alerting half the campus of his tardiness. He’s also kind of cute, and Wonwoo isn’t too sure what to do with that information.

“That’s alright,” Seungkwan tells him with a smile, “the store manager is out right now. It’s not a busy time anyway and it’s a little boring.” The new guy nods slowly and Wonwoo can see a smile spreading across his face. His teeth are kind of… adorable? Weird. Wonwoo's never found teeth cute before. Who was this kid and where the hell did he come from?

The whole shop enters into that quiet moment again as a couple slips out of the shop, a small tinkling coming from the door as it shuts behind them. There are only about five people left and he can tell the people by themselves are starting to get ready to leave. Wonwoo fidgets uncomfortably when the silence drags on a little longer, and he decides to at least take some initiative into making the situation a little less awkward.

“I’m Jeon Wonwoo,” Wonwoo introduces hesitantly, “I was assigned to uh, show you around. Y'know, help you out here a little as you settle in?”

“Oh hey,” the guy replies, grinning a little wider and Wonwoo squints at his face because he’s so familiar. Seungkwan taps his shoulder and tells him that he’s going to go clear the tables and then it dawns on him.

“You’re in my music theory class.” Wonwoo tells him, and he thinks that maybe it came out a little indifferent, but the kid smiles even wider - if at all possible - and points at him like he’d just said something real smart.

“Yeah, that’s right!” He exclaims, a little too excited for Wonwoo’s liking, but he goes along with it. “I’m Kim Mingyu, you sit like, across the room from me.”

Ah. Kim Mingyu. The name doesn’t ring a bell, but alright. Good to have a name for the face, he figures. Wonwoo smiles back at Mingyu, he guesses, and is about to usher him around to the back to get him all decked out in his brand new uniform and everything but then he sees her.

“Oh _no_.” Wonwoo whispers, panicked. Mingyu gives him an odd look, quirking a brow and turning to look in the direction of wherever Wonwoo was looking. “Pretend you’re my boyfriend or something,” Wonwoo hisses at Mingyu, “it’s an _emergency_.”

“ _Excuse_ me?” Mingyu asks, and he sounds totally spooked and put off as he turns back to Wonwoo with an incredulous look on his face. Wonwoo guesses it’s only fair because he had only just really met the guy but Wonwoo is starting to panic and doesn't really know what to do and my god, he really does not want that girl to flirt with him again it would be so awkward and he wants to be left alone.

“There’s no time, just-” Wonwoo gives a last effort to explain but the girl is walking through the door and oh my god. He gives a last annoyed grunt before he reaches up over the counter to grab the back of Kim Mingyu’s head and pull him in for a kiss, eyes fluttering closed instinctively and Wonwoo kind of regrets it _immensely_ as soon as it happens.

Their lips crash together uncomfortably hard and Wonwoo’s leaning in a little too much so his back hurts, he can hear Mingyu’s hands hit the table to steady himself, the tinkling of the bell on the door, and the soft “oh” that leaves the girl’s lips as she looks at the sight in front of her. Wonwoo feels a little bad, but Mingyu’s pushing his tongue against Wonwoo’s lips for some reason and Wonwoo’s brain short circuits and before he realises it, Kim Mingyu’s _tongue_ is in his mouth and his head is spinning, heart fluttering and what is going on. He hears the doorbell ringing softly again and he takes the opportunity to push Kim Mingyu off of him with wide eyes and panicked breaths.

“I’m sorry?” Wonwoo squeaks, a little breathless, and completely and utterly overwhelmed. He can see Seungkwan gaping at him from across the room and the customers are giving the two boys at the front uncomfortable glances. Mingyu looks completely indifferent though, and that’s the scariest of all. Wonwoo feels his face heat up and he buries his head in his hands. “I’m so sorry,” he rambles, “so so sorry.”

“You know,” Mingyu starts, and his voice is so low and god what has Wonwoo done? “That,” he continues, “was my first kiss.”

“With _that_ much tongue?” Wonwoo squawks accusingly, voice a little louder than expected and he’s so much more than embarrassed he can’t even explain it. “Nobody shoves their tongue in someone else’s mouth with their first kiss. Ever.”

“First kisses are supposed to be special, so I thought,” Mingyu picks up his bag from the counter and starts heading into the back room, “why not make it special even though it was with some strange guy on my first day at work?”

Wonwoo wants to die in that moment as Mingyu disappears into the back. He just can’t figure the guy out. One moment the boy is running in late completely panicked and the next he’s sticking his tongue down Wonwoo’s throat and shrugging his first kiss off like nothing happened. What the _hell_. Seungkwan weaves his way through the tables and chairs back behind the counter with Wonwoo and places a hand on his shoulder, lips pursed and curved up slightly into what Wonwoo thinks is some form of a smile. Wonwoo really wants to die.

“That, my friend,” Seungkwan says solemnly, “is how not to show the new employee around.”

Wonwoo groans and leans back against the counter with an exasperated whine. “I _know_ ,” Wonwoo sighs, “but I blanked and then-”

“You made out with him?”

“ _He_ made out with _me_!” Wonwoo defends, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

Seungkwan gives him an apologetic look and pats him on the back. “At least he’s cute.”

“I took his first kiss,” Wonwoo groans, burying his face into his hands. "I can't fucking  _believe_ this."

Seungkwan lets out a not so encouraging snort of laughter and makes a show of wiping a tear from his eye that makes Wonwoo want to smack him. “Good luck with that,” Seungkwan grouses, and as Mingyu walks back out from the back room, all dressed up in uniform, Wonwoo wants to melt into the floor and never come back because he’s so embarrassed all over again.

“By the way Wonwoo,” Mingyu says as he adjusts his sleeves and reaches for a jug, “that girl you were trying to avoid?”

“What about her…” Wonwoo prompts cautiously. He’s not sure if he wants to know what the hell Kim Mingyu is getting at.

“She’s my project partner for our architecture assignment,” Mingyu tells him with a laugh, grabbing the milk and pouring it into the jug, “so I’ll have some explaining to do tomorrow. Any ideas?”

Wonwoo isn’t sure if anything is registering anymore. There’s Kim Mingyu standing at the milk steamer, steaming milk like he’s grown up steaming milk. He’s so dazed. There’s steam everywhere and he’s so overwhelmed with so many things and he thinks he might just faint right there on the floor in front of goddamn Boo Seungkwan and Kim Mingyu, the new guy he just made out with in front of said guy’s project partner. He has a great idea, for sure.

“Kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, you've made it to the end of the first chapter! congrats! hahahaha this was originally posted back in december 2015 so it's a bit old-ish hahaha. feel free to comment, leave constructive crit, etc. if you want e-mail notifications as to when this updates there's a subscribe button up top somewhere so you can click that if you want to? (nobody else sees how many subs or whatever so it's all cool it's just so you're notified if you're into that.) i'm probably going to update this once a week until all pre-written chapters are up? and then we'll see how we go. wish me luck! xoxo ❤


	2. rock and a hard place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✰ i've decided i'll be posting a new chapter every friday/saturday (depending on your timezone) until all finished chapters are up! there are only 5 written right now, but hopefully by the time the 5th one is up the 6th chapter will be ready.   
>  ✰ also from this chapter onwards it's going to be pretty heavily revised vs. the version on aff – so hopefully the version here on ao3 will be more updated and just better quality writing in general.

The last person Wonwoo expects to slip into the seat next to him at the start of music theory the next day is Kim Mingyu, virgin kisser extraordinaire. Wonwoo wants to melt through his chair and into the concrete slabs underneath the lecture hall.

“Well, hello there,” Mingyu greets with a wide smile, shuffling closer to Wonwoo when the other boy tries to shimmy away. “ _Rude_ ,” Mingyu whispers under his breath accusingly, “you took my first kiss and now you’re trying to avoid me. Chivalry really _is_ dead.”

Kim Mingyu is actually daring to pout at Wonwoo – like it's going to make any difference – and his short brown hair is all mussed up like he'd just gotten out of bed. The thought of Mingyu not brushing his hair in the morning gets Wonwoo into some sort of flustered daze, that he's not all to thrilled to admit. He stares up at Mingyu with a disapproving look and shrinks back into his seat.

“Let me live, hellspawn,” Wonwoo spits out, frowning and eyeing the boy in front of him. His eyes involuntarily travel down from Mingyu's eyes, down his nose and stop at the soft curve of the other boy’s lips. Wonwoo can't actually believe he's staring at Mingyu's lips – the ones he'd kissed the day before – and if he wasn't already flustered enough, the memory hits him like a freight train and he’s blushing all over again.

“ _Jesus_ Wonwoo, you’re so bitter towards me,” Mingyu says with a laugh, “remind me to not kiss you again. Especially when you taste bitter too. I guess I know where it comes from.” Wonwoo nearly chokes on air, eyes widening at how nonchalantly Mingyu could even bring up the subject, nevertheless actually saying he tastes fucking _bitter_. Wonwoo stiffens up when he feels Mingyu’s arm wrap around his shoulder and he can feel his skin prickle and his heartbeat pick up, settling into an uncomfortable rhythm Wonwoo isn't particularly fond of. What the _hell_. “Relax,” Mingyu whispers soothingly, but Wonwoo can't help but tense up more because he’s _very_ far from being relaxed in this situation. “Her friend is in this class too and she already told her about it, so just play along, alright?”

“She _what_?” Wonwoo squeaks, and Mingyu moves his hand over Wonwoo’s mouth before he can say anything else that's too loud and attracts unnecessary attention in their direction.

“She couldn’t stop talking about you this morning when we met up for our assignment,” Mingyu tells him in a low voice, “she kept asking about how long you’ve been gay and dating me.” Wonwoo quickly scans the classroom for anyone to notice that Mingyu's got his goddamn hand over his mouth, and maybe help him out. Nobody seems to be looking in their direction at all, and how nobody else has noticed that he could be getting _kidnapped_ or something freaks him the hell out.

Wonwoo finally manages to push Mingyu’s hand away and gives the other boy the most scalding look he can manage. “And?” Wonwoo prompts, raising an eyebrow skeptically and scanning over Mingyu's features to detect any sign of him trying to bullshit Wonwoo into anything inappropriate.

“I just told her we’ve been dating for a little bit,” Mingyu says with a shrug, like it's not a _huge_ deal. He even readjusts himself in his chair and manages to flip to a fresh page of his notepad, picking up a pen with his other hand. Between the declaration and the pen being picked up somehow Wonwoo’s mouth had fallen open in disbelief. “You and I have only known each other for a day, but you asked me to be your boyfriend yesterday before you kissed me so I _assumed_ …”

“I’m so screwed,” Wonwoo hisses, sinking down into his chair, “ _you’re_ so screwed. We’re _both_ so _screwed_.”

“Actually,” Mingyu says pointedly, “that same girl who’s been eyeing you, and who you scared off yesterday... she's the girl I like. Our assignment is basically the only time I get to work with her. Unfortunately, she’s not really too interested in me, obviously.”

“I kissed you in front of the girl you like?” Wonwoo almost shrieks, but his voice comes out (thankfully), more as a hoarse whisper right into Mingyu's ear. Oh my _God_. Wonwoo wants to crawl away and sob in a corner or something because Creepy Regular Girl, who tried to ask him out on a date is the girl Kim Mingyu - new employee and guy he just _kissed_ the day before i _n front of said girl..._  Ugh, Wonwoo’s luck is not on his side lately. What kind of fresh hell has he gotten himself into now? “I’m so...  _God_ , you’re straight aren’t you? And I dragged you into this mess.” Wonwoo whines and runs a shaking hand through his hair, eyeing the doorway because he wants to get the fuck out of there as soon as humanly possible. “Why don’t you just tell her the truth? I really don’t mind, in fact, I encourage it. You're a straight guy interested in a straight girl and she just saw you kissing me - a guy...”

“She likes _you_ , dumbass,” Mingyu scoffs, “and I’m… bisexual, I guess? It's really not that big of a deal.”

“But I still _kissed_ you in front of the girl you like!” Wonwoo says hisses vehemently, thrusting a finger into Mingyu’s chest. It hurts his finger more than he'd thought it would, which means the boy has some serious muscle underneath that shirt and Wonwoo can’t gauge if he likes that particular fact or not.

“Like I said,” Mingyu reassures with a defeated huff, “it’s no big deal, I'm not all that invested in her anyway, so it's whatever.” Kim Mingyu looks at Wonwoo with a frown and leans over his side to pull out Wonwoo’s notebook for him. Wonwoo sucks in a breath when Mingyu gets a little too close, and notices that the guy kind of smells like oranges and cinnamon. “At least now she can get over you and finally find a guy who she likes and who’ll like her back.”

“Are you suggesting yourself?” Wonwoo asks, and he doesn’t mean it in a weird way, but Mingyu looks at him accusingly anyways and slides the notebook in front of Wonwoo with a pen, prompting him to write something down from the lecture. Wonwoo decides to switch lanes and ask a different question instead - just in case the other boy was offended in any way. “How long have you two even known each other?”

Mingyu sighs and sits back in his chair properly, looking down at his notepad and scribbling something down that isn’t words. “No, like I said,” Mingyu mutters, and Wonwoo is confused for a moment before he realises that Mingyu was answering the previous question. “She doesn’t like me like that.”

Wonwoo frowns and he feels kind of guilty. The girl Mingyu liked didn’t reciprocate his feelings and liked… well, _Wonwoo_ instead. He’s not sure how he’s supposed to feel about that, but he knows guilty is definitely one of those feelings he's feeling. Especially since Wonwoo kissed Mingyu in front of his crush, and completely ruined the poor guy’s chances with her entirely. He really feels like he needs to do something about it: but _what_? “I’m not her type,” Mingyu continues, and Wonwoo snaps out of his little guilt trip to turn and look at Mingyu again, “plus it’s only been a couple of months since we met. We’re barely friends.”

Wonwoo groans and lets his head fall to the table, his forehead hitting the notebook with a dull thud. “God,” he mutters, more to himself than to Mingyu, “I messed up so bad, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t stress,” Mingyu says with a laugh, and Wonwoo thinks the guy must be a total saint to be there sitting next to him the day after meeting him, making out with him on his first day of work and subsequently ruining any chance the poor guy has with his crush. “You know,” Mingyu murmurs uncomfortably close to Wonwoo’s ear. So close he can feel the hot breath down his neck and he sits up right away, giving the other boy a scorching glare, cheeks flushing a deep pink. “The store manager had to show me around instead yesterday,” Kim Mingyu looks a little too smug about Wonwoo’s reaction, and the next thing he says catches Wonwoo completely off guard, “but I was kind of hoping you’d be the one to do that, even after what happened.”

Wonwoo is so stunned because if he didn’t know any better, he’d think that Kim Mingyu was _flirting_ with him. “Why _would_ you?” Wonwoo spits out bitterly, frowning and leaning away from Mingyu, who leans closer, resting his elbow on the table.

“I want to learn more about the guy who ended up being my first kiss.”

That's it. Wonwoo needs to get this guy off his case before he grows a tumour completely manifested by guilt and awkwardness, probably with Kim Mingyu's facial features and annoying personality. “I left work early,” Wonwoo deadpans, “there’s abolutely nothing for you to learn about me.”

“Yeah, I doubt that,” Mingyu says gently, and Wonwoo notices how his features soften when he smiles. “I think you seem pretty damn interesting - and so does she, apparently.”

If Wonwoo could turn himself into the deadpan emoji, he really fucking would. Kim Mingyu is never going to leave him alone about anything ever again if he doesn't clean up the horrible mess he's created, and he probably – _maybe_ – has the best goddamn idea to conquer this dilemma. He's going to set him up with her, and all will be good. She’ll be off his back. _He’ll_  be off _Wonwoo's_ back. They’ll both be together and _yes!_  That's a perfect idea, how did he not think of this before?

“You’re not leaving again are you?” Mingyu asks when Wonwoo starts stuffing his things into his shoulder bag, and all Wonwoo does is reply with a nod and a wave as he stands up and heads out of the lecture hall, huge grin on his face and a plan bubbling away in his mind.

You just wait Kim Mingyu – soon, everything will be back to how it should be.

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“I’m so _screwed_ Junhui,” Wonwoo whines to his roommate as he lays down on his couch, legs dangling off the edge. He’d come back to his shared apartment with his best friend and said best friend's boyfriend - Minghao, another Chinese student - making out on the floor. Nothing new, really, but still extremely awkward. He’d then filled both of them in with what had happened the past two days and his _amazing_ master plan, with regular intervals where Junhui had to pause and explain to Minghao the things the younger boy hadn't picked up from Wonwoo's rapid speaking.

“Oh, I think I know him,” Minghao had told them. They were both surprised, but Minghao had explained that they were both about the same age and that they’d shared a unit together at the start of the year. “I think it was an engineering unit, but I’m not too sure. Flirted with anything that moved,” Minghao informed with pursed lips, and Junhui had to ask if he’d flirted with Minghao too, to which the oldest of the two got a light smack on the arm and a withering look from the youngest.

At least Kim Mingyu wasn’t just flirting with him just because he kissed him. He just flirted with everyone. _Amazing_. He then had to convince Junhui to hack into the school server and find the student roster lists so he could track down creepy regular girl and get her to hook up with Mingyu. Kill two birds with one stone, they say.

Which is how they end up with Wonwoo whining on the couch and Junhui hunched over behind his laptop, Minghao’s arms wrapped around his shoulders in a back hug and chin resting atop his head as usual. Wonwoo wants to throw up a little because they look so sickeningly _sweet_ , but it’s also a little endearing, so he lets the two of them do their weird cuddle thing even if it makes Wonwoo a little nauseous.

“Hey, I think I've found your lover boy, Wonwoo,” Junhui calls from across the room, and Wonwoo shoots up, scrambling off the couch and over behind Junhui to squint at the glaringly bright screen. He sees a pretty standard picture of Kim Mingyu on the screen, and he looks pretty damn good considering it’s one of those shitty campus photos everyone takes at the start of the year. “At least he’s cute. I wouldn’t mind kissing him,” Junhui murmurs, and gets a poke in the ribs from Minghao. “Ow! I’m kidding!”

“Everyone says he's cute… and he was too chill about it...” Wonwoo mutters bitterly, still a little irked by how Mingyu was taking the whole situation. How do you just shove your tongue into someone else’s mouth, and how do you act so nonchalant about the whole thing? Wonwoo made a mental note to put it down as one of life’s greatest mysteries that would probably never get solved.

“Maybe he likes you instead of that girl?” Junhui suggests with a wiggle of the brows and Wonwoo finds himself laughing because of just how ridiculous it sounds.

“We literally met yesterday,” he reminds his roommate, and Junhui just shrugs and taps away at the keyboard again, moving away from the photo of Kim Mingyu with warm brown eyes and cute teeth.

“Don’t forget you made out with him,” Junhui grouses, shifting a little in his seat which makes Minghao grunt and poke his ribs again.

“Ugh,” Wonwoo grunts, “it wasn’t supposed to be like that!”

This time, it’s Minghao who laughs and reaches over to punch Wonwoo in the arm playfully. Wonwoo grins at him and sticks his tongue back out at the younger boy, who just laughs a little more. “Yeah, alright Wonwoo,” he teases, “whatever you say.”

“Just tell me who this girl is,” Wonwoo gripes, “I don’t even know her name.”

“Hold on, let me pull up the class list,” Junhui grumbles back, brows furrowed as he leans in a little more and chews on his lip, which makes Minghao sigh and starts massaging his shoulders. “Don’t you have to write her name on the coffee cup?” Junhui asks him, and Wonwoo has to think about it for a moment before he can answer it.

“She makes me write ‘cutie’ on it,” he tells Junhui with a shrug, and the older boy laughs at him, shaking his head.

“Not smooth, creepy regular girl. Not smooth at all.” Junhui smiles up at Minghao as a thank you and Wonwoo narrows his eyes at both of them being unnecessarily disgusting. “Okay,” Junhui pipes up cheerfully, turning the laptop to face Wonwoo, “here it is. There are photos so just… let me know if you see her.”

It doesn’t take long for Wonwoo to scan the faces and scroll down until he sees her, brown hair tied into ponytails and fringe covering her forehead. He recognises her the second he sees her and he thrusts his finger up against the laptop screen, probably leaving a nasty mark Junhui would complain to him about later. “There,” he states, “that’s her. Ryu Sujeong.”

Junhui turns the laptop back so it faces him and he lets out a low whistle as he looks at the picture of the girl he’s heard so much about during Wonwoo’s late night ramblings from work and especially during the last couple of days where she’s been part of - if not the center of - all Wonwoo’s problems. “Shit,” Junhui says slowly, “she’s pretty.”

Wonwoo only nods and murmurs a soft, “I just hope this works.”

“Yeah,” Minghao agrees, giving Junhui a glare, “me too.”

“Hey,” Junhui whines, “don’t be mean I was just kidding!” Minghao scoffs and rolls his eyes at his boyfriend. Wonwoo is staring at them a little too much but they probably don’t notice. He wonders what it’s like to have someone like that, where with just a look or two, you can know what they’re thinking. Must be nice. “You know I love you Minghao!”

“Sure, sure,” Minghao says sarcastically, but he leans down to press his lips sweetly against Junhui’s anyway, and Wonwoo makes a disheartened gagging noise that sounds more like a depressed sob.

“Gross.”

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

****from:** ** UNKNOWN NUMBER   
**to:**  wonu  
`> heyy there first kiss ;)`

Wonwoo flinches when he feels his phone vibrate somewhere under his thigh. He’d been catching up on his favourite anime for the past couple hours and when he pulls his phone out from beneath his bedcovers, he’s surprised, to say the least, and also very very miffed. He pauses his anime playing on his laptop and moves it off to the side, settling comfortably on his bed and turning to the side before he replies.

**to:** UNKNOWN NUMBER   
**from:** wonu   
`> How did you get this number?`

****from:** ** UNKNOWN NUMBER   
**to:**  wonu  
`> seungkwan gave it to me yesterday after you bailed :c`

Wonwoo curses under his breath and quickly switches to change the name of the contact, tapping out the name bitterly before messaging again.

**to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> Leave me alone.`

 ** **from:**** weird ass guy kim mingyu  
**to:**  wonu  
`> omg ur so rude`  
`> i just wanted to let you know we have the same shift tomorrow too`  
`> can't wait to see you there ;))))`

Great. Wonwoo wants to cry. How the hell was he going to explain running the fuck away from this guy twice? Given the circumstances, he’d thought it would’ve been obvious, but Kim Mingyu seems to think otherwise of the whole messed up situation. Go figure. Wonwoo grunts angrily and decides not to reply just yet. He needs to confront Seungkwan about this phone number sharing issie and get his revenge somehow. Seungkwan can’t just go around giving his number to everyone.

 ** **to:** ** sass queen boo   
**from:** wonu   
`> the hell seungkwan??`  
`> what are you playing at????`

****from:** ** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> you kissed him and he asked for your number i thought he was interested in you okay i'm sorry not sorry`  
`> wait you're talking about mingyu right?`  
`> he's interested right? right?`  
`> because you left right after manager eunkwang came back to the shop so I don't even know`

 ** **to:** ** sass queen boo   
**from:** wonu   
`> he likes creepy regular girl.`  
`> like an actual legitimate crush on her.`

****from:** ** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> well shit.`

 ** **to:** ** sass queen boo   
**from:** wonu   
`> i’m gonna set him up with her`

****from:** ** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> what??? excuse me wonwoo no you’re not?????`

Wonwoo just smiles as he taps away his last message and drags his laptop back over to watch the rest of the episode. He thinks he’s got this sorted. He really hopes he does, because his whole reputation is on the line here, and this is the only way he can think of to get out of this mess without screwing everything up even more.

**to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> yeah! can’t wait c:`

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh the text formatting was torture but i managed it? i'm sorry if any of the other formatting is a little off, let me know! the texts are super hard to code OTL


	3. skeptisism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonwoo makes a series of bad decisions, and it's only just the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm like a day late with this update please forgive me I slept in a lot and then got really busy during the day hahahaha. It's up though, so [sweats] I hope it's alright? xoxo

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Soonyoung asks from across the front counter, raising a questioning brow at Wonwoo, who’s resting his head on his arms and looking up at Soonyoung with a disgruntled look.

“Well, of course, I’m not _completely_ sure about it, but I _think_ it’ll work,” Wonwoo tells Soonyoung, pushing himself up and he settles for leaning against the wall instead as Jihoon makes his way back over from wiping down a couple tables with Mingyu in tow. It was that time again in-between classes where nobody’s in the shop (the best time, in Wonwoo's opinion), and only the last couple of people are left, leaving just Jihoon, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Seungcheol in the back working the dead shift; plus Soonyoung, who'd crashed the party to try and woo Jihoon from the other side of the countertop.

“What’s this about?” Jihoon interrogates when he's walking over, throwing the dirtied towel into the back with Seungcheol quickly, and drags his feet back over next to Wonwoo, inching a hand over the counter for Soonyoung to take and entwine his fingers together with Jihoon's absentmindedly. _Why are some couples so unnecessarily affectionate_ , Wonwoo thinks with a scrunch of his nose. Then again, _he’s_  a person, and eventually, would probably end up being one-half of one of those unnecessarily affectionate couples too (hopefully) – so he really has no standing when he complains. Go figure.

“Wonwoo thinks he’s going to be able to set the new guy up with creepy regular girl, because apparently he likes her or something,” Soonyoung tells Jihoon, and the shorter boy rolls his eyes before blatantly pointing to Mingyu across the shop who stares back wide-eyed and confused; which actually looks extremely cute if Wonwoo _has_ to be honest.

“Didn’t you _kiss_ him in front of her?” Jihoon accuses, and Wonwoo nods regretfully, playing with the strap on his apron. Jihoon groans and reaches up to smack the back of Wonwoo’s head - probably a hopeless attempt at smacking some sense into him. Wonwoo whimpers and holds the back of his head in his hands as Mingyu back to the front of the shop too. Wonwoo wants to shrink away and hide forever.

“Were you guys just talking about me?” Mingyu asks, an incredulous expression on his features and Wonwoo is about to reply with some weak excuse before Soonyoung chimes in a little too cheerfully.

“Wonwoo wants to set you up with that creepy regu- _ow!_ ” Surprisingly, it’s Jihoon who’s pinching Soonyoung’s arm with a piercing gaze and not Wonwoo trying to shut him up. Mingyu just looks over at Wonwoo with an even more confused expression and tilts his head.

“You mean Sujeong?” Mingyu asks, raising an eyebrow so high it disappears into his fringe. “You want to set me up with Sujeong? You know she thinks we’re dating each other, right?”

Oh yeah. He’d almost forgotten about that. _Almost_ being the key word.

Good thing Wonwoo's memory isn't completely shit.

“Mingyu, just hear me out alright?” Wonwoo pleads, reaching out to grab Mingyu’s shoulders and throttle him a little. Mingyu only whines and pushes Wonwoo away from him with a frown, crossing his arms afterwards and taking a step away before Wonwoo can reach out and shake him again

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Soonyoung mumbles and presses a kiss to Jihoon’s knuckles before letting go. Jihoon gives him a glare and waves him off, heading off to clear more tables, probably. “I’ll see you later!” Soonyoung sing-songs on his way out of the door and Wonwoo’s pretty sure that glare Jihoon is only half-hearted because his cheeks are turning pink and his lips are threatening to break out into a wide grin when Soonyoung turns his back to them. It's so horribly obvious that Jihoon isn't as grumpy as he tries to let on.

“I’m listening,” Mingyu says, catching Wonwoo off guard as he tears his eyes away from Jihoon absentmindedly dragging his dishcloth over the empty tables. He’d have to tease him about it later instead. Mingyu clears his throat and readjusts his crossed arms, tapping his foot on the ground rhythmically.

Wonwoo smiles sheepishly and shrugs an apology. “We’ve got to make me look like a real douchebag who doesn't care about you or… something like that.”

“Or _something_ like that?”

“I'm just- _look_ ,” Wonwoo stutters, moving his hands around as Mingyu leans in a little more, waiting for Wonwoo to get to the point and he’s _getting there_ but Mingyu in his face isn’t helping and now his mind is blank and _ugh why_. “I could be an asshole, she’ll feel sorry for you and then you can just say you broke up with me,” Wonwoo tells him, and Mingyu leans back with a skeptical look on his face. Wonwoo can’t blame him. “It’s the twenty-first century I’m sure she won’t mind that you’ve allegedly dated a boy.”

“Uh huh,” Mingyu deadpans, “that plan sucks, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo groans and throws his hands up in the air in defeat. “Well, what _else_ are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know,” Mingyu retaliates, “you don’t even have to set me up. I keep telling you that it’s not a big deal.”

 _But it is a big deal_ , Wonwoo wants to tell him because God _forbid,_ Wonwoo actually ends up ruining someone else's life even more. “Wait, Mingyu,” Wonwoo pauses, looks up at the guy who’s still giving him that _look_ because he just might’ve stumbled upon something. “Why did you start working _here_ of all places?” He watches as Mingyu’s cheeks flush a soft pink and his shoulders go slack as they shrug. My God. Kim Mingyu is _whipped_. “Damn,” Wonwoo murmurs more to himself, “you really do like her don’t you.”

“I’m not _that_ into her,” Mingyu tries to defend himself, but his voice has gone up an octave and Wonwoo needs to stop himself from snorting, “she interests me, y’know? She’s pretty, she’s nice and she’s smart. All that respectable stuff. Really though, it was just an excuse to get a job. I really needed to get one, it just influenced my decision a bit. I knew she came here for coffee but honestly, I'd never even been inside before my job interview.”

“Right,” Wonwoo concedes with a smirk, “whatever you say Mingyu.”

Mingyu gives Wonwoo’s shoulder a playful shove and Wonwoo barely dodges as Mingyu grabs an empty to-go cup off the counter with a laugh and throws it at his head. Wonwoo yelps and ducks behind Seungcheol when he emerges from the back with a new stack of tea towels and a raised eyebrow. Wonwoo’s just glad that there were no customers and he didn’t lose any extra brain cells.

Seungcheol just shrugs the whole thing off like a trooper and heads back into his little room to do who knows what, and Wonwoo carefully makes his way back over to the front next to Mingyu, eyeing the boy skeptically just in case he tries to throw another cup at him. Mingyu somehow seems a little out of it, only twitching his lips up at Wonwoo instead of a full-fledged smile, before he turns back to look at the front door wistfully.

“Do you think she’s coming in today?” Mingyu asks, voice soft, but he doesn’t turn his eyes away from the door. His shoulders are slouched and he seems a little disappointed that no new customers are coming in. Wonwoo feels a pang in his chest. Damn guilt trip. He feels _horrible_ \- and it’s so much worse because Mingyu isn’t chewing him out for it, because he honestly thinks it would be easier if Mingyu did get upset at him about it. At least then he’d know he did something wrong, instead of now, where he just feels like shit. This whole situation is a complete and utter _mess_.

“She’s really embarrassed so…” Wonwoo replies, chewing on his bottom lip nervously as he rests a hand on Mingyu’s shoulder, “I don’t think she’s coming.”

Mingyu frowns and lets out an audible sigh. “Yeah,” he mumbles back, “good point.”

 _Christ_. Wonwoo has to rectify this situation like, pronto - before Kim Mingyu picks up a habit of drinking alcohol or even worse - too much coffee - and slips into a self-loathing horror show. Wonwoo couldn’t let him live like that. “How about you come over to my dorm tonight if you’re free and we can discuss our master set-you-up-with-Sujeong plan?” Wonwoo offers gently, patting Mingyu’s back a little awkwardly.

Mingyu turns to face him with a small smile and Wonwoo guesses that could possibly be  _something_ to work with. “Oh? Are you _suggesting_ something Wonwoo? Your dorm? You and me?” Mingyu teases, and he’s sounding a little more like himself. Progress. But also, _no,_ he was _not_ suggesting something like that. Gross.

“ _No_ , oh my _God_ no. My roommate will be there - don’t be weird about it,” Wonwoo scolds, and he grumbles when he pulls his hand away, reaching for an old receipt and a pen to scribble down his address and details before thrusting the piece of paper into a chuckling Mingyu’s face. “Here, don't lose this or give it to someone or anything.”

“Sure, I’ll see you around… ten then?” Mingyu confirms, plucking the paper from Wonwoo’s fingertips with another soft laugh, and he actually sounds a little happy if Wonwoo listens  _really_ close. Mingyu shoves it into his jean pocket when a lone customer wanders through the door and he gives Wonwoo a thumbs up as he backs away. “Expect pyjamas!”

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“So when is your lover-boy coming over?” Junhui asks in a whisper with a waggle of his brows. They’re sitting on the couch together watching some drama that Wonwoo couldn’t really care any less about. Minghao seems engrossed in it, and he’s constantly picking at the popcorn and sticking each in his mouth one by one. Wonwoo doesn’t know how the kid can have that much self-control when it comes to snacks (especially _popcorn_ ), but he has some wild respect for him nonetheless.

“Do _not_ call him that,” Wonwoo gripes, elbowing Junhui in the stomach which earns him a yelp, and Minghao shushes the both of them with a kick to Junhui’s leg which only makes the older boy whimper a little louder. Minghao doesn’t look very sorry.

“Well you _kissed_ him,” Junhui shoots back at him and _okay_ , fair enough, but it was a _mistake_. Would anyone ever let him live it down? Probably not. Wonwoo shifts in his seat and is about to retaliate when he feels his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He frowns, but he pulls it out anyways to check the message he’d just gotten and _oh great_. Speak of the devil. 

****from:** ** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**to:**  wonu  
`> hey i'm at ur door but nobody is answering?  
`> are you home??? did i get the wrong day??`  
`> am i at the wrong address please tell me i'm not at some strangers place?!!!?!?!?``

 **to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> calm yourself mingyu we're just watching a drama i'll come get you in a minute hold on`

Wonwoo stuffs his phone back into his pocket and starts pushing himself off the couch to head to the front door when Junhui - goddamn _Junhui_ \- pulls him back down and starts wrestling with his (very comfortable) shirt. “What the _hell_ Junhui?” Wonwoo squawks, trying to swat his best friend’s hands away as Junhui keeps trying to pull the oversized blue shirt off his body.

“Minghao, hold him down for me - he’s _not_ wearing this,” Junhui hisses to his boyfriend, but Minghao only reaches over to pry Junhui’s hands off Wonwoo’s ratty old shirt nonchalantly, eyes never leaving the screen.

"Don’t make me tickle you, Jun.”

Junhui sighs and gives up (because Wonwoo knows Junhui hates being tickled), settling back next to Minghao with a huff. “I just don’t know how you’re wearing that in front of lover-boy. That shirt is horrifying.”

“Well, I’m not going _topless_ either. Look at you and Minghao though!” Wonwoo finally manages to get up and motions at both of them, trapped in oversized snuggies and pyjamas and overall, looking like two suburban mums who had just come off a bad juice cleanse. “You two look ratchet.”

“We’re _dating,_ Wonwoo,” Junhui says with an indignant scoff, flinging his arm around Minghao’s shoulders to which the younger boy snuggles into. “It’s different. We’re allowed to be gross together.”

“Ugh, just-” Wonwoo rolls his eyes and throws his hands up in defeat, stalking over to the front door and flinging it open without so much as a glance through the peephole. Mingyu looks kind of shocked at the abrupt opening of the door and Wonwoo gives him a once over before grunting in approval. Mingyu’s dressed in a ratty shirt of his own and sweatpants - hell, he looks more comfortable than Wonwoo _feels_ in his shirt and pyjama pants. Wait until Junhui sees this.

“You look _so_ happy to see me Wonwoo,” Mingyu grouses as soon as the door is opened. Wonwoo scrunches his nose in disapproval as Mingyu steps inside and toes off his shoes, leaving just his mickey mouse printed socks on his feet, but when the  _hell_ did Wonwoo invite him in? Whatever, Wonwoo figures he was going to end up coming in nonetheless.

“Hello to you too Mingyu,” Wonwoo gripes, thwacking the guy in the back of the head with a huff. He hears the padding of socked feet coming out from the living room and he turns around to face whoever it is after shutting the door behind Mingyu. Junhui. _Of course,_ it’s Junhui.

“Roommate?” Mingyu asks, motioning over to said boy, who’s leaning against the wall with a sly smile. Wonwoo hisses and tries to shoo him off but only gets a tongue stuck out at him whilst he waves at Mingyu.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo sighs, “that’s him.”

“I’m his best friend,” Junhui tells Mingyu.

“He’s my best friend,” Wonwoo agrees.

Junhui lets out a laugh and beckons them over before disappearing back into the room. Wonwoo grabs Mingyu by the ear and drags him after Junhui, who starts rambling as soon as he sits back down again. “Nice to finally meet you mystery boy, thanks for taking Wonwoo’s kissing virginity. I’ve heard _so_ much about you.” Minghao shoots a glare at Junhui, probably because he can’t hear his drama properly, but his eye catches Mingyu’s and he smiles brightly, waving.

“Mingyu, it’s been a while,” Minghao says with a grin, and Wonwoo can basically see the gears turning in Mingyu’s head before his face brightens up too, doing that pointy thing he did when Wonwoo told him about music theory class, only at Minghao this time.

“Minghao! I haven’t seen you in months! What are you doing here?” Mingyu seems genuinely pleased to see Minghao and even nods with an _‘ah’_ when Minghao replies by pointing to Junhui with a quirk of his lips before he remembers what he’s _actually_ here for when Wonwoo clears his throat. “Right!” He announces, smiling sheepishly at Wonwoo. “We’ve got things to do, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo agrees with a grumble, “let’s go.”

Wonwoo scowls at Junhui when he starts making kissy faces, and Minghao seems to agree with Wonwoo’s distaste as he shoves a handful of popcorn into his boyfriend’s mouth - effectively shutting him up. Wonwoo mentally declares to himself that Minghao is a legend.

Wonwoo pushes Mingyu into his bedroom and shuts the door, striding over to his bed and patting the space beside him, inviting Mingyu to sit down. Wonwoo’s feeling a little nervous - especially when Mingyu shuffles over and parks himself _right_ next to Wonwoo, thighs touching and _oh my God_ Wonwoo can feel Mingyu’s fingers on his leg. He doesn’t want to move away though because that would just be _rude_ of him, he reasons - so he settles for Mingyu’s thigh pressed against his as he brings out his notepad and pen.

“Aww, I thought we were gonna get kinky,” Mingyu whines playfully, jutting his bottom lip out and he nudges Wonwoo with his shoulder. Wonwoo gives him a horrified look and shoves him back.

“I can kick you out Mingyu. Don’t be an ass.”

“I wouldn’t mind touching _y-_ ”

“Don’t even _finish_ that thought or I swear to fucking _God_ I'll punch you right in the goddam jaw, Kim Mingyu. Don't even  _try_ it.” Wonwoo scowls and gives Mingyu a pointed look, ripping a piece of paper out and scrunching it into a ball before shoving straight into Mingyu’s mouth when he starts laughing loudly. “You’re hopeless.”

“Sorry,” Mingyu apologises after he spits the paper out of his mouth. He smiles at Wonwoo apologetically and shoves the (slightly moist, and super gross) piece of paper into the bin next to his feet. “You’re just so cute when I tease you, so how can I not?”

Wonwoo feels his face heat up, cheeks probably the _worst_ shade of red imaginable and _holy shit_ Kim Mingyu _what the hell are you playing at_? “Don’t you _dare_ ,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath and shuffles away from Mingyu, not really caring anymore if he offends him or not. “You can’t go around calling gay boys cute, dumbass. Let’s get this plan or whatever out of the way so you can get out of here.” Wonwoo readjusts the notebook on his lap and clicks his pen open, tilting the top of the page ‘ _How To Get Kim Mingyu Off My Back_ ’ with a frowny face tacked on at the end for good measure.

“Fine, fine, but you really _are_ adorable - I’m just saying it because it’s a fact,” Mingyu says with a shrug, and he takes the pen from Wonwoo’s hand after he’s done and starts doodling small diamonds in the corners of the page. Left handed. Wonwoo hadn’t noticed that before. “So do you have any ideas for this master plan of yours to set Sujeong and I up?”

 _Right_. The plan. “She thinks we’re dating each other, right?” Wonwoo asks, snatching the pen back from Mingyu and drawing a little star at the start of the top line. Mingyu shuffles closer to Wonwoo again with a nod and a hum, leaning in to rest his chin on Wonwoo’s shoulder. Wonwoo tenses up when he feels Mingyu on his shoulder, breath hitching and heart starting to beat faster because he’s just _too_ _close_.

“Yeah, so what do we do about that?” Somehow, Mingyu sounds completely indifferent about the whole _close_ thing, but maybe he was just a clingy person? Wonwoo is about to relax a little because it’s not all _that_ bad, but Mingyu circles his arms around Wonwoo’s waist and brings him closer and nope, nope, _nope._ Minghao said he flirted with everyone right? _Right?_ Right. It's probably just Mingyu being Mingyu.

“I- uh- you- tell her the truth?” Wonwoo stutters, trying to sound at _least_ half as flustered as he is, but failing horribly.

“Then we’ll both look like assholes for lying about it,” Mingyu states, and Wonwoo can just about _hear_ the pout he’s wearing in his voice. This was so much more difficult that what Wonwoo had originally anticipated. _Ugh_.

“True…” Wonwoo agrees hesitantly, still trying hard to sound at least slightly more coherent than he felt. “People fake date each other right? That’s a thing.” Mingyu nods and hums in approval, hugging Wonwoo a little tighter and Wonwoo _really_ wants to push him _away._ So very, very far away - but he doesn’t. “We just have to fake break up or something instead of fake dating. I mean, we're caught up in a fake dating misunderstanding right now, so...”

“Oh,” Mingyu says, and he actually sounds mildly impressed, “that might actually work. Cliché, but possibly effective.”

“Yeah, we just can’t do it straight away or anything… a week and a half maybe? So it’s not like we kiss one day and break up the other, y’know?”

“I get you, I get you,” Mingyu reassures, _finally_ moving off Wonwoo who mentally celebrates and berates his heart into calming down. “So what do we do?”

“Alright,” Wonwoo grins and readjusts himself so he can write on the paper. “I’m thinking that I go with you to your next assignment meet up and apologise to her about… well, _everything_. Then after about a week and a half, you can tell her that we broke up.” Wonwoo scribbles each thing down on a new line as he goes along, glancing at Mingyu to check if he’s actively following what he’s saying. Mingyu seems to be nodding to whatever, though, so he assumes he is.

“How are you going to set us up, though?” Mingyu asks quietly, sitting back and fiddling with his fingers. 

“I’ll figure something out later. One step at a time Mingyu,” Wonwoo says regretfully, carefully reaching over to pat Mingyu’s back with a small smile. “Also, I’m tired.”

“Oh,” Mingyu says, looking up at Wonwoo and he gets up off the bed quickly, brushing himself off. “Go to sleep then, I’ll find my way out.”

“I can’t sleep,” Wonwoo grumbles unhappily. Ugh, goddamn university. “I have an important assignment to work on that's due tomorrow.”

Mingyu seems to contemplate something before he crawls back onto Wonwoo’s bed and lays down on his back, shimmying over so there’s room on one side and pats the area with a grin at Wonwoo, who’s looking at Mingyu incredulously and still trying to figure out what the _heck_ this guy was doing. “Come here and take a nap. I’ll wake you up later.”

“Woah, _excuse me_?”

“It’s totally platonic,” Mingyu assures and points to his chest. “Did you know that there are professional cuddlers?”

“Really...” Wonwoo is still _super_ skeptical, but no way in hell is he turning down sleep. He reluctantly crawls over to Mingyu’s side and awkwardly presses into his side. Mingyu doesn’t seem satisfied, so he pulls Wonwoo up to rest on his chest. Wonwoo can already feel his eyes closing now that he’s laying down, and Mingyu is so _warm_ and weirdly comforting considering they’d only met a couple days ago. Wonwoo settles in Mingyu’s arms and he can hear the other boy’s heartbeat as he drifts off to sleep. “Thanks, Mingyu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just another smol thank you for reading this ily all~ [sparkly heart emojis]


	4. plan into action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonwoo finally meets the girl Mingyu's been talking about this whole time and she's... not actually that bad.

Wonwoo stirs from his sleep when he hears a rumbling in his ears and the thing he's sleeping on starts shaking. The first thing he thinks is,  _holy shit, it’s a fucking earthquake_  - but he hears something like soft laughter above him instead, so he decides to play dead for just a little longer. Y'know, just in case.

"I can't believe it," he hears Junhui’s voice whisper, "he _actually_ fell asleep on you."

He thinks he hears someone else say a sleepy, "Yeah, it's kind of cute," but the rumbling in his ears almost obscures it. There's more movement and the gentle rise and fall of whatever he's lying on, his fingers curling into his sheets when he feels fingers gently brush through his hair, and suddenly, he thinks he knows _exactly_ what's going on.

"Who are you calling _cute_?" Wonwoo grumbles, reaching up to swat Mingyu's hand away from his hair but (maybe not so) accidentally ends up smacking Mingyu in the face instead.

_“Hey!”_

"Uh oh," Junhui snorts, "busted."

“Ugh, what time is it?” Wonwoo stretches and rolls off to the side, nearly falling off the bed in his haste to put as much space between him and Mingyu as possible. His bed was _definitely_ not made for more than one person. Especially one as tall as Kim Mingyu.

“It’s about three in the morning. I just tucked Minghao in bed since he fell asleep too, so, I mean if he's falling asleep, it’s pretty late.”

“Shit, wow, okay,” Wonwoo groans, cracking open an eye to give either Junhui or Mingyu a nasty look – whoever catches it first – but the lights are way too bright and he quickly shuts his eye again with a whine. “What were you guys doing up so late anyway?” Wonwoo asks with a sigh, but he pauses for a moment and quickly relents. “Y’know what? I don’t think I even wanna know.”

“Wise decision, kid,” Junhui agrees and pats the top of Wonwoo’s head with a hum. Wonwoo finally manages to open both eyes successfully and squints up at Junhui – who’s looking _way_ too amused for his liking, and not at all dishevelled enough to have been participating in whatever he's trying to insinuate to make Wonwoo feel uncomfortable. Asshole. Mingyu, however, is still lying flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling looking more than a little scandalised.

“I’m only a month younger than you, Junhui,” Wonwoo deadpans, “and why is Mingyu still here?”

“You’re so _rude_ ,” Mingyu grumbles back, but the words barely have any bite to them as he stretches and collapses back onto the bed with a frown.

“Yeah, I dunno about that one,” Junhui tells him with a shrug, “he was sleeping too when I walked in, but my phone must’ve woken him up.”

“ _Phone_?” Wonwoo squawks and Junhui just gives another nonchalant shrug before replying.

“I took a picture for future blackmail purposes, or for future proof. Whichever situation arises first. Also, it was kind of cute.”

“Junhui I swear to _God-_ ”

“How did I get dragged into this?” Mingyu whines and flings an arm across his eyes. He looks all sorts of embarrassed actually, hell, he is too – but it’s definitely way more adorable than Wonwoo would ever be, and he finds himself grinning stupidly at the blush that’s spreading across Mingyu's cheeks. It's nice.

“Don't worry Mingyu, this only happens on the rare occasions - and you two cuddling is _adorable_. Truly blackmail-worthy material. It wouldn’t be cute if it was just Wonwoo though. That would just be normal,” Junhui tells Mingyu proudly, but then he stops for a moment and his face drops. “I see him sleeping more than I'd like to,” Junhui says seriously. Wonwoo reaches over and smacks his thigh.

“Sorry for that, man,” Mingyu replies to Junhui apologetically. Wonwoo wants to know what the hell was so traumatic about seeing him sleep. It’s not like he drools that much or kicks people in his sleep, and he's sure he doesn't look _that_ gross.

“I'm feeling _so_ loved right now,” Wonwoo gripes and stumbles to his feet, using Junhui’s arm to pull himself up. Wonwoo sighs as Junhui holds him upright, stumbling a little himself with a grunt, but he doesn’t complain. Instead, he smiles and nudges Wonwoo with his shoulder, which nearly knocks him over.

“I should probably go now,” Mingyu sighs and gets himself up with a grimace, stretching again, “it’s late and you need to do your assignment.”

“ _No_ ,” Wonwoo says a little too quickly as he shoots out a hand to steady Mingyu when he stumbles a little too, “I mean, no, you can stay. It’s three in the morning so going back is going to be really dangerous…”

“It’s _fine_ , Wonwoo,” Mingyu smiles dopily and reaches up to ruffle Wonwoo’s head with a small laugh. “Thank you, though. I’ll text you when to meet with her, yeah?”

“Yeah okay,” Wonwoo says reluctantly with a frown and moves away from Junhui to pull Mingyu by his arm out of the bedroom. Mingyu blindly follows Wonwoo and he looks really horribly tired. Wonwoo wonders how long Mingyu tried to stay awake for him before he eventually fell asleep too. This idiot, really.

“Don’t apologise,” Mingyu tells him with a yawn, “I’m sorry I fell asleep, I didn’t mean to. I was supposed to wake you up.”

Wonwoo sighs and continues pushing Mingyu across the apartment, opening the door with a little too much effort and shoving Mingyu out of it into the hallway. “Shut up and go home, Mingyu, you’re tired and it really isn't a big deal. Text me when you’re back home safe, I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” Mingyu laughs lazily and turns around as Wonwoo moves to close the door, “see you later.”

The sound of the door closing echoes in the eerily silent apartment, and Wonwoo takes in a breath before he turns around to go back to his room and work on that half-finished assignment of his. He doesn't really want to, but he’s got to.

“At least he’s cute,” Junhui tells him when Wonwoo walks past him on the way back. Wonwoo just gives him a withering look.

“You said that last time Jun.”

"It's true."

"Go back to bed and leave me alone."

Junhui lets out something akin to a cackle as he slips back into his room and wiggles his fingers in Wonwoo's direction, closing the door softly as to not wake Minghao up, probably. Wonwoo sighs.

Woe is he.

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

Turns out the next assignment meeting with Mingyu and Creepy Regular Girl (or Sujeong, whatever) is four days later. Also turns out that Kim Mingyu is an impatient bastard who needs to remember that _some_ of them have classes to attend. Wonwoo is in the middle of a literature lecture when his phone starts buzzing uncontrollably, and he’s genuinely afraid that the professor will hear and ask to see if there’s any bees trapped in his pockets. Dishwasher guy Seungcheol is sitting next to him and shoots him a weird look, but Wonwoo pulls his phone out to check his messages under the desk and waves Seungcheol off before he can ask.

****from:** ** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**to:**  wonu  
`> hey man are you free today to meet up?`  
`> like around 11am or something???`  
`> because sujeong and i are meeting up to work on our assignment in the library for a couple hours`  
`> aaaaaaaaaand y'know it'll be a good chance for us to be... y'know`  
`> anyway we can get some lunch together afterwards because sujeong has a class`  
`> only if you're free`  
`> or if you want to i mean we don't have to`  
`> um but yeah she was cool with you coming along today when i asked so she's kind of expecting it`  
`> dude please reply i'm getting really nervous`  
`> wonwoo??????????????`

 **to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> i'm in class you dork you do realise i have that right??`  
`> i like to learn`  
`> but yeah i'll be there`  
`> it's 11am at the library right?`  
`> you're treating me to lunch.`

****from:** ** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**to:**  wonu  
`> deal :))))`

Thing is, by the time Wonwoo realises he has no idea what to do with Sujeong, he’s already standing in front of the library and understandably freaking the _hell_ out. They never ended up discussing the details, and now Wonwoo regrets that. _A lot_. Wonwoo considers taking out his phone and message spamming Mingyu, but what could they possibly discuss now? He groans and pulls out his phone, but the thing buzzes in his hands and he nearly drops it face down onto the pavement.

****from:** ** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**to:**  wonu  
`> wonwoo is she there yet??`  
`> i'm on my way over gimme a second`

 **to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> well idk where you guys planned to meet up so i don't know tbh`  
`> i have absolutely no clue`  
`> whats our cover story btw?????`  
`> what if she asks too many questions or we're inconsistent???????`

****from:** ** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**to:**  wonu  
`> yeeeaaaah i don't think she'd pry too much tbh just keep it cool`  
`> go with we've been dating for a while and were trying to keep it on the dl because we didnt wanna flaunt it or something`  
`> be super vague and don't oversell it`  
`> don't answer too quickly either or it'll seem fake af`  
`> just follow my lead and we'll be fine`

 **to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> i sure as hell hope we'll be fine because these are our asses on the line :c`  
`> i don't wanna lie too much about this even though this whole thing is one huge lie ugh`  
`> btw how tf do you even know what to do in these situatuons??`

****from:** ** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**to:**  wonu  
`> i just watch a lot of american crime tv shows`

 **to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> fair enough i guess`

Mingyu stumbles around the corner no more than two minutes later, arms full of papers and phone held awkwardly in his hand. He smiles stupidly when he sees Wonwoo, and Wonwoo can’t help but roll his eyes.

“You’re late to your own date, Kim Mingyu,” Wonwoo scolds, but Mingyu seems pretty unfazed as he winks and wiggles his eyebrows from behind the stack of papers. Wonwoo's eye twitches. That's  _such_ a stereotypical Junhui move.

“Is that what you’re calling this Wonwoo? A date?”

“You know what I mean,” Wonwoo hisses back and leans over to peek into the library, but he honestly can’t see shit. “Is she even here yet? Because we’re late.”

“Yeah, she texted me. She’s been here for a while but she says it’s okay,” Mingyu tells him with a horrible attempt at a thumb's up with the hand that’s holding his phone and nearly drops the damn thing. Wonwoo fumbles to catch it because _no phone is going to die today_ but it turns out he doesn’t really need to, because he catches Mingyu’s hand instead, still grasping his phone of only by the corner.

“Sorry,” Wonwoo mumbles, blushing in embarrassment. He moves his hands away and smiles up at Mingyu sheepishly who keeps looking at him with that dumb smile of his. “Do you want me to carry some of that for you?” Wonwoo offers instead, but Mingyu breaks into a round of laughter before shaking his head.

“Nah, then it wouldn’t look like we’re on the verge of breaking up.”

Good point.

“Thanks for offering, though,” Mingyu nudges him playfully with his elbow and _God_ that smile is so sweet it’s probably going to give Wonwoo diabetes. Mingyu moves past him and heads into the library with Wonwoo right at his heels because he is _not_ going to be left behind. He’d rather not admit it, but he’s actually pretty nervous about meeting Sujeong outside of his workplace – with his manager in the back, Seungkwan standing guard beside him and Jihoon glaring daggers from the other side of the room. Today he's just got Mingyu and himself, and he's not sure how reliable Mingyu is when it comes to helping to fend off unwanted advances. Mingyu makes his way further into the library, and for some reason, Wonwoo feels like everyone’s staring at him. He can’t spot Sujeong for the life of him, and Mingyu seems to have forgotten about him entirely, not even sparing a glance back at him.

“Mingyu!” Wonwoo hears someone call out and it takes him an unnecessarily long time to realise that _oh shit,_ it’s creepy regular girl, _what the hell do I do?_ He really shouldn’t be so nervous because he’d _literally_ just walked into the library after Mingyu with the explicit purpose of seeing her - but he _is,_ and Mingyu's not doing anything to help that when he grins a little too widely and strides over to the table, still without acknowledging Wonwoo's existence. Wonwoo feels a pang of jealousy, but brushes it off the best he can and curls his lips up in a thin smile when he catches Sujeong's glance at him.

“Hey, Sujeong!” Mingyu greets cheerfully and drops his hoard of papers on the desk in front of her with a grin. “You know Wonwoo, I guess, so there's no need for introductions, right?” Sujeong looks a little taken aback but she smiles back up at him, eyes drifting back over to Wonwoo in an instant, and he feels his blood run cold and his muscles seize up and after about ten seconds, he theorises to himself that maybe he's having a stroke.

“Yeah, I’m glad you brought your ah… _boyfriend_ along with you Mingyu.” Sujeong gives a wry smile and moves the chair next to her out from its place, inviting either one of them to sit down. “I’m sorry I tried to ask you out,” she continues, directing her words at Wonwoo, “I didn’t know you were taken.”

“I’m just gay-” Wonwoo blurts out before he can apply that verbal filter he so _desperately_ needs because _holy shit no -_ that did _not_ go as planned and now Sujeong is looking at him weirdly. She looks either amused or horribly offended, and Wonwoo isn’t sure which option is better for him.

“So you’re _not_ taken?”

Wonwoo panics even more, fumbling on his words before he settles with, “No! I _am,_ I just-” Mingyu elbows him in the ribs before he can screw up more than he already has, and Wonwoo doubles over when the sharp pain, _fuck –_  starts curling its way through his body. He wants to cry but he can’t even manage a decent wail, and probably sounds more like a dying goat.

“He’s just tired,” Mingyu tells her with an apologetic grimace, guiding Wonwoo to sit down on the chair Sujeong had pulled out earlier before settling himself into the chair next to him. Sujeong doesn’t look too convinced in all honesty, but she nods and plays along. Wonwoo’s got to give her kudos for that.

“Sorry for uh…” Wonwoo rasps out, still trying to breathe properly –  _dammit_ Mingyu’s elbow is _really_ sharp, “kissing Mingyu in front of you?”

“Oh no no, it’s absolutely _fine_ ,” Sujeong waves her hand in the air and grins a little too widely for Wonwoo’s liking. He can’t tell if she’s catching on because they’re horrible at lying or if she’s just trying to play it off real cool in this situation. He doesn’t _know_ and it’s stressing him out. “I mean I was surprised,” she continues, “a little taken aback but hey, if Mingyu was my boyfriend I’d totally kiss him in front of everyone too.”

“You _would?_ ” Wonwoo almost launches himself across the small space between him and Sujeong to give her a hug because that would make everything _so_ much easier _please_ be serious; but he stops himself because a) That would be weird as hell considering he’s supposed to be _dating_ Mingyu right now, b) He actually feels kind of jealous, and c) Mingyu looks super flustered and Wonwoo would rather tease him about that than try to set them up _now_ of all times.

“Well, he’s cute,” Sujeong says with a shrug, “but sorry Mingyu, you’re not my kind of guy. Apparently, but don't quote me on this, I have a thing for gay twinks.”

Wonwoo laughs loudly at that for a good couple seconds before Mingyu makes a choking sound next to him just as he’s reaching for a map in the pile of papers he had brought along with him, and Wonwoo has to hit him on the back in a panic. Now that he's properly met her, he thinks Sujeong is actually pretty okay. Maybe he wouldn’t mind dating her in another life where he didn’t just like boys? She's just a little hazardous to Mingyu’s health and wellbeing.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sujeong apologises with a bubbly laugh of her own, “don’t worry, he’s all yours Wonwoo. He’s not gay enough for me, apparently.”

“Wonwoo is, though?” Mingyu asks, wide-eyed and Wonwoo can barely read him. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights after his coughing fit.

“Well you’re bisexual, Mingyu. Wonwoo is gay, and I totally had a thing for him, so take of that what you will.” Sujeong snorts and waves her hand in the air again and gives them both an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry though, I shouldn’t tease you love birds too much.” Mingyu has since collapsed on the table with a groan and Wonwoo is petting his hair lightly with an amused grin.

“He’ll live,” Wonwoo says gravely, giving Mingyu a glare from the corner of his eye.

Sujeong grins and reaches over to grab one of Wonwoo’s hands, giving it a squeeze before she puts her phone down on the table and gets up. Wonwoo probably would’ve thrown her across the room if she’d done that when he first got there, but now that they’ve talked, she actually seems to be really alright. Like, more than alright. _Uncomfortably_ alright – especially because now, he thinks he kind of  _likes_ her.

Wonwoo spares a glance in Mingyu's direction for some guidance with the whole hand holding thing – but he seems too preoccupied with clearing his throat and scribbling down calculations on his piece of paper to realise. He almost looks like he's trying to distract himself.

“I’m going to go powder my nose or something,” Sujeong tells him and walks off away from their table with a wave. “I’ll be back!”

Wonwoo watches in bewilderment as Sujeong scampers off towards the other side of the library, leaving him alone with Mingyu and her phone left on the table.

“I didn’t know she knew you were bi, Mingyu,” Wonwoo hisses at him once Sujeong’s disappeared out of earshot. Mingyu sits up and gives a shrug, leaning over to rest his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder instead. Wonwoo's mental state takes a drastic decline into thoughts of  _omg he’s too close. Way too close._

“It’s kind of common knowledge in some of my classes,” Mingyu informs snaking his hand down Wonwoo’s arm to intertwine their fingers under the table. Wonwoo nearly screams but a librarian walks past and he can’t seem to form any coherent brain signals. What the _hell_ was Mingyu doing _?_ Sujeong is _gone,_ as in, not around right now, and they’re not actually dating _thankyouverymuch._ “Some dude in my class caught me checking out some other guy in one of my unit classes at the start of the year and asked me if I was gay,” Mingyu mutters, “so I just told him I was bisexual and the whole class kind of heard everything.”

Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “Of _course,_ that’s how it happened,” he murmurs. He’s really not surprised. Mingyu is the definition of unsubtle but there’s something in his head that’s nagging away and he doesn’t know _what_ but it’s really important. Mingyu sighs and gives his hand a squeeze before taking it away, but he doesn’t move his head. Wonwoo finds himself leaning his head on Mingyu’s too, and his hair smells a little like Minghao’s shampoo so they must use the same- _oh my God no_. Wonwoo remembers, he _so_ remembers right now. Minghao had told him some weird story when they’d first met, and it’s so _strangely_ similar to this and _no_ this can’t be the same guy. This _can’t_ be Mingyu.

“Wait,” Wonwoo says slowly, lifting his head up, “was the guy you were checking out… Minghao?”

“Oh my _God_ ,” Mingyu groans and buries his face into the crook of Wonwoo’s neck, “can we not talk about this anymore? It was _really_ embarrassing.”

Wonwoo pulls away from him just as soon as Mingyu’s nose touches his neck and he _gapes_. “Holy shit,” he says in disbelief, “holy _shit_ Kim Mingyu - Minghao is... Minghao's like a _twig_. Even Junhui admits he's got no meat on his bones what were you  _looking_ at?”

“Hey! He's got a cute face, alright? It's not like I haven't checked you out before!” Mingyu retaliates.

“You’ve... checked me out?"

“Of course, I’ve checked you out what do you expect? I’m a healthy teenage boy who has eyes and is attracted to people physically. Is that such a crime?”

"Sexual harassment is considered punishable by law."

"I'm just looking it's not like I'm staring too much! It's... it's not like–"

“Why in God's name are we even talking about this? Aren't you two dating?” Oh _no_ , as if this couldn’t get _more_ awkward. Wonwoo totally recognises that voice. Sujeong’s back - and at the _worst_ possible time ever. Wonwoo pulls his hand out of Mingyu's by reflex, ready to scream and strangle just about everyone in the library so nobody has to remember this moment but Mingyu just happens to distract him enough, and plants his face in his hands with a loud groan.

“We’re talking about the... _incident_ ,” Mingyu whimpers into his hands. Sujeong looks horrified for a moment before she nods, and the two of them seem to come to an understanding together. Wonwoo for one, is confused, but also kind of annoyed that _wow_ okay, Sujeong and Mingyu have inside references. Perks of being in the same major, he guesses. Damn.

“Hey,” Wonwoo prompts carefully, reaching over to the paper pile Mingyu brought over and gently pulls a stray piece out, “we’ve only got about an hour left so why don’t we actually work on this assignment, huh?”

“Oh,” Sujeong grins sheepishly and shuffles back into her seat next to Wonwoo, picking up her phone and stuffing it into her jacket pocket. “Yeah, sorry about that. We should, shouldn’t we?”

Mingyu pulls himself together after about another minute of sulking and actually starts doing work. Wonwoo finally realises that hey, yeah, he’s not actually in this class and can’t do shit when Sujeong and Mingyu start talking about different vectors in designs and other things he can’t quite wrap his head around. They work together well though, he thinks, and he can kind of see both of them working out alright together. That thought makes him a little uncomfortable, and he finds himself pulling his phone out to text Junhui a series of dumb emojis and only smiles when Mingyu reaches down to hold his hand under the table again.

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“So what do you think of Sujeong now?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “She’s actually pretty cool. I think I like her.”

The two of them are sitting in the cafe across from Starbucks as planned; Wonwoo nibbling on some (pretty mediocre, in his opinion) ham and cheese sandwiches and Mingyu stuffing his face with a whole family sized pepperoni pizza. Wonwoo really doesn’t know how he does it and stays so fit. Mingyu must work out a lot or something, and he kind of really wouldn’t mind seeing that.

“She’s my girl Wonwoo, you had your chance!” Mingyu accuses teasingly through a mouthful of pizza, looking slightly offended when Wonwoo snorts at him and takes another bite of his own sandwich.

“Calm yourself Mingyu,” Wonwoo chastises, “you know what I meant.”

Mingyu rolls his eyes and takes another huge ass bite of his pizza slice, obliterating at least half of it that time alone. Mingyu’s foot happens to nudge Wonwoo’s leg and he’s about to freak out and reprimand Mingyu for trying to play footsies under the table but Mingyu cuts in first.

“Hey,” he says, swallowing his pizza as an afterthought, “this is dumb but how old are you?”

Wonwoo blinks. “You don’t know?” Mingyu shakes his head and takes another, less terrifying bite and leans in, waiting for Wonwoo to reply. Wonwoo seriously thought he knew but apparently not. “I’m about a year older than you,” Wonwoo tells him, and Mingyu nods slowly in acknowledgement, chewing on his crust.

“How do _you_ know how old I am?”

“Uh,” great. Wonwoo just had to go and give away that he knew how old Mingyu was and he needs to try and find a better, and far less creepy explanation than, ‘ _I made Junhui hack into the university server so I could check your application form and learn more about you like how you changed from a graphic design major to an architecture major at the last minute and that you’ve already paid your tuition in full’_ so he settles for the first thing that pops into his head _besides_ all that and it just happens to be, “Uh, Minghao told me?” Thank _God_ it actually makes sense.

“Ah, right, right,” Mingyu at least seems to be convinced, nodding and reaching for his last slice of pizza. “Minghao and I are about the same age I nearly forgot,” Mingyu grins a little and there’s a smear of sauce on the corner of his lips that makes Wonwoo scrunch his nose. Mingyu seems to be in some deep thought provoking state after that and Wonwoo is scared that he’ll break him out of his reverie and maybe ruin the chances of Mingyu discovering the cure for cancer, but Mingyu doesn’t seem to have that in mind (unfortunately). “Do you think another week is enough for this whole breaking up thing?”

Oh. _Oh_. Now that he thinks about it, Wonwoo isn’t quite sure if it is. “I think maybe not at this rate, I mean we just met Sujeong together and it’s not like we see each other every day so maybe a little longer?”

“Another week?” Mingyu confirms, and Wonwoo hesitates a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, so two weeks from now.”

Mingyu grins and stuffs the last remnants of pizza in his mouth, chewing happily. “That sounds about right.”

Wonwoo grimaces when more sauce gets on Mingyu’s mouth but he relaxes a little when he grabs a napkin to wipe half his lunch off his face. He’s about to reach over and help the poor guy out a little but his phone starts blowing up in his back pocket and he groans as he decides to check that out first. Mingyu’s a big boy. He can look after himself.

 ** **from:**** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> okay i just got on break and OMG LET ME TELL YOU WONWOO LET ME TELL YOU`  
`> i swear we just got the cutest customer this shift i cannot believe you missed this`  
`> he was literally looking for mingyu though?`  
`> i mean what does mingyu have that i don't?`  
`> anyway he wanted to know if mingyu was in because he promised him a discount and he WAS NOT IN`  
`> so i have him my staff discount instead???`  
`> IS THAT TOO CREEPY DID I SEEM DESPERATE???`

 ** **to:** ** sass queen boo   
**from:** wonu   
`> boo you need to calm down ok`

  ** **from:**** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> WONWOO YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND`  
`> HE WAS SO CUTE`

 ** **to:**** sass queen boo   
**from:** wonu   
`> wait wait you said he was looking for mingyu though?`  
`> how long ago was this tbh???` 

 ** **from:**** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> like an hour ago what does this have to do with anything why are you asking me this??`

 ** **to:** ** sass queen boo   
**from:** wonu   
`> no reason i'm just having lunch with mingyu rn across from you guys`

 ** **from:**** sass queen boo   
**to:**  wonu  
`> YOU'VE LITERALLY ONLY KOWN HIM FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND YOU MET HIM AND MADE OUT WITH HIM WITHIN THE SPAN OF 5 MINUTES JEON WONWOO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS IS SO IRRISPONSIBLE`

“Hey Mingyu,” Wonwoo calls, trying to stifle a laugh, “apparently there was some guy looking for you at work a while ago. Seungkwan just texted me.”

Mingyu looks confused, but at least all the sauce is off his face. He tries to lean over and peek at Wonwoo’s phone but Wonwoo moves it away and presses the screen to his chest before Mingyu can even get a glimpse. “Who was it?”

Wonwoo shrugs and pulls the phone away when it buzzes again, sticking a tongue out at Mingyu who pouts in return. “All he knows is that he was really good looking,” Wonwoo smiles and takes another bite of his sandwich, “that’s what he says at least.”

“That’s _so_ helpful, thanks.”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! How many good looking friends do you even have?”

“Well, at least one, and his name is Wonwoo.”

“Ha ha,” Wonwoo deadpans with a roll of his eyes and another bite of his lunch, “nice try there Kim Mingyu, but I’m not good looking.”

“You have crumbs-” is all Mingyu says before he frowns and reaches over. Wonwoo doesn’t know what he’s up to but his fingers get dangerously close to his lips and Mingyu’s thumbing away at the corner of his mouth and Wonwoo is _blushing so hard_. Wonwoo panics, and like every other rational person, pulls away as fast as possible and starts rubbing away at his mouth with the back of his sweater. “Don’t put yourself down like that, alright?” Mingyu says softly, pulling back his hand and fiddling with his fingers. “You’re really cute and I think you’re also really hot, for what it’s worth.”

What the fuck, what the _fuck_  Wonwoo never thought he could blush this hard but _this._ God, this wasn’t okay and _so totally_ uncalled for. Wonwoo hastily puts down his half-eaten sandwich and stumbles up out of his chair, stuffing his phone back into his pocket and fishing around for some cash, completely forgetting about the whole Mingyu treating him to lunch deal until he’d already put more than enough to cover his share of the bill down onto the table. He couldn’t be like this in front of Mingyu, nope nope nope. “Look,” Wonwoo tells him with a small smile, ”I just remembered that I’ve got another class in half an hour and I need to go.”

“Oh,” Mingyu looks a little lost. Wonwoo _did_ just get up and throw money on the table and tell him he had to bail because of class (which wasn’t a lie but it’s only a four-minute walk away), but _God_ it was embarrassing being this flustered and _no way_ \- he still has to set Mingyu up with Sujeong and Mingyu flirts with _everyone_ so he probably doesn’t even realise that he’s doing it. Wonwoo turns to leave, but Mingyu grabs his hand before he can walk off, giving a soft squeeze and Wonwoo’s pretty sure his heart is in overdrive. “I’ll see you tomorrow at work?”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo says, pulling his hand away gently, “see you tomorrow, Mingyu."


	5. she's all that

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu's not there... but Sujeong is. Wonwoo's not exactly sure what's going on – but shit is _definitely_ about to go down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm a day late again but ;___; I slept in so much yesterday it was totally futile hahaha.

Wonwoo is prepared for the absolute _worst_ when he barges into his own apartment that afternoon after classes, but he’s only greeted with the tame cuddling of Minghao and Junhui on the couch with another bowl of Minghao’s beloved popcorn between the two of them. Wonwoo was expecting them to be making out, or worse – bickering like an old married couple (as usual) - but this was a pleasant surprise, yet oddly suspicious. _Really_ suspicious. Wonwoo kind of has a weird feeling about it, but he tries to brush it off as nothing, and carefully slips his shoes off beside the door.

“Hey Wonwoo,” Junhui greets offhandedly, “long day today?” Wonwoo glares daggers at Junhui for a solid minute while he’s standing in the doorway before he gives in and flings his bag onto the floor. He strides over to the couch, Minghao and Junhui shuffling apart to make room for Wonwoo before he throws himself down between them, sighing in exasperation.

“Yeah,” he deadpans, “long day today.” Junhui hums a little too enthusiastically and nods in mock interest as he reaches over Wonwoo’s legs and shoves his hand back into the popcorn on Minghao’s lap.

“Mingyu texted me a couple hours ago,” Junhui starts as he shoves the popcorn into his mouth and chews, wiping his salty hands on his jeans afterwards as Wonwoo watches him warily. There’s a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach and he’s pretty sure he knows where this is going. He also doesn’t really want to know how Mingyu got Junhui’s number, but it probably involved some illegal hacking and Junhui sending off the first text, coupled with a bad excuse as to why he would even have his number in the first place (which most definitely included Wonwoo in some way).

“What about Mingyu?” Wonwoo feigns innocence, trying to play dumb - but Junhui knows better. He smirks and reaches back over for more popcorn, pushing Wonwoo a little and Minghao’s elbow digs right into his side. He winces and vows to pay that goddamn best friend of his back because Minghao’s elbows are _pointy_ and _sharp_ and really just all around uncomfortable to have stuck in your side.

“He wanted to know if you lied about having a class just so you could get out of that lunch you had with him,” Junhui snorts, throwing more popcorn into his mouth and reaching over again. Wonwoo is so _close_ to just getting up and leaving the two of them because these accusations are _ridiculous..._ and also because Junhui reaching over every couple seconds is getting kind of annoying. Also, that elbow needs to get out.

“I actually had a class, though-”

“Oh, I know,” Junhui interrupts, “my question is _why_ he thought you didn’t.”

“Junhui, can we _not_ do this right now?” Wonwoo groans, sliding down in his seat and flinging an arm over his eyes. “I just want to have a nice cup of hot chocolate, crawl into bed and watch anime or something. Not an intervention about... whatever this is. Mingyu. I don't know. I don't _care_.”

“Fine,” Junhui grumbles back, throwing his hands up in defeat as he stands up from the couch, “I’ll go make hot chocolate.”

“Thank-”

“Minghao will talk to you about it instead.”

Wonwoo groans and buries his head in his hands. _Seriously_ , what the _hell_. Wonwoo feels Minghao patting his back comfortingly as Junhui bounces off into the kitchen with a snort at Wonwoo’s expense, and Wonwoo’s just really so _done_ for the day. The hot chocolate better be damn good.

“I don’t know how you deal with him,” Wonwoo mutters to Minghao, and he hears the younger boy laugh loudly before stuffing his face with even more popcorn.

“Frankly, neither do I,” he tells him with a shrug through a mouthful, and Wonwoo finally feels compelled enough to remove his face from his hands and promptly lulls his head against Minghao’s shoulder. “So,” Minghao pries, feeding Wonwoo a piece of popcorn, which he reluctantly chews, “why’d you leave the poor guy by himself?”

“ _Ugh_ Minghao,” Wonwoo grunts, settling himself more comfortably on the boy’s shoulder, “Mingyu was just getting a little too touchy and saying too many sweet things for my liking.” Minghao seems to nod at that, and Wonwoo decides that, _what the hell_ , might as well ramble about it if Minghao’s willing to listen. At least he won’t give him shit like Junhui does. “It’s not that, I mean, I _didn’t_ like it,” he clarifies, “oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that - but I don’t know. It made me _feel_ things, Minghao. Like when someone gives you a super nice compliment on your new shirt or when someone gives you a really nice hug and you just feel warm and fuzzy inside? Kind of like that, only he was like, touching my hand and saying I was cute and shit. I got too flustered and I had to get outta there before he realised how hard I was blushing.”

“So basically,” Minghao says slowly, dragging his words out as if he’s still piecing everything together, “he gave you the feels.”

“He gave me the feels,” Wonwoo agrees gravely.

Minghao seems to grin at that, picking at the unpopped kernels amongst the others as he hums in acknowledgement. “Mingyu’s a hell of a flirt - kind of a weird guy, actually - but I’ve got to say that this is probably the worst incident I’ve ever heard of.”

“It’s an _incident_ now?”

Minghao shrugs lightly as to not jostle Wonwoo too much (because he’s still settled somewhat comfortably on his shoulder) and carefully feeds him another piece of popcorn. “I just don’t think anyone’s _actually_ walked away from him because of it before. I mean, I guess someone has. Maybe if they just didn't know him or if he was being sarcastic about it. Nobody seems to care? He does tend to back off once you get to know him though, but with you, he seems pretty persistent. Don't take my word for it, though.”

Wonwoo can’t help but roll his eyes and poke Minghao in the side lightly. “So it’s an isolated incident,” he deadpans, the television still blaring something in on the front of them. There’s nothing really that interesting on anymore anyway, so Wonwoo reaches over to grab the remote and turn it off. He instantly regrets it though, because now it’s _way_ too quiet and he can even hear Junhui struggling in the kitchen.

Wonwoo groans when he hears Junhui drop something and cuss, and he finds himself contemplating whether to get up and help the poor guy before he decides against it and continues trying to make his point. (Junhui’s a big boy, he reasons. He can look after himself. Wonwoo’s also 99% sure he’s just making a fuss to draw attention to himself.) “I probably just have a low Mingyu tolerance. It's not that big of a deal,” he mutters bitterly to Minghao, but it’s directed mostly at himself.

Minghao scoffs and reaches back over to turn on the television again to drown out the sounds of Junhui wailing about chocolate powder in his eye. “Don’t make me hit you Wonwoo, you know that’s bullshit,” Minghao says pointedly, and Wonwoo’s only response is a whispered “ _sassy_ ” which he hopes Minghao doesn’t hear. Junhui’s rubbed off on him too much and he’s not too sure if that’s a good thing or not. “Do you like him or something already?” Minghao presses on, elbowing Wonwoo in the gut when he groans in response and he makes a mental note to buy the boy elbow pads to save himself any more pain. “I mean, you two have spent a lot of time together lately and I know people can fall for each other really fast-”

“I’m pretty sure you and Junhui are the only two people in existence to start dating so quickly after meeting. It took you guys like, a week and a half before you started dating or something,” Wonwoo interrupts, sitting up and making a face. “I know it’s going _great_ for you two even though you had a rough start - but that whole 'dating each other before you even have time to find out if they like spicy food or not' thing is not really what I'm into.”

Minghao gives him a lopsided grin as he finishes off the popcorn with another shrug, and Wonwoo can’t really blame him for being kind of pushy about it. The two of them have been trying to get him to hook up with someone for _months_ and suddenly he makes out with Mingyu in front of a whole shop of customers (more like five customers, Sujeong, and a very surprised Seungkwan). “Well,” Minghao offers, “it was a possibility?”

“If I was crushing on him like a teenage girl, I wouldn’t be trying to set him up with Sujeong.”

“Fair point,” Minghao lets up with a sheepish smile, “anyway, it’s not like I see him all the time, so this could be normal and you might just be getting a little too flustered. Just don’t let it get to you or whatever.”

“I’ll try my best with that,” Wonwoo says dryly, but he ruffles the boy’s hair in thanks anyway, earning himself a small chuckle from the lanky teen. “Where did the cute, shy Minghao who couldn’t speak properly go anyway?”

Minghao seems to roll his eyes a little too aggressively at that and ends up pushing Wonwoo’s shoulder, the both of them falling into soft laughter when Wonwoo rubs his shoulder in mock horror. “Dunno,” Minghao teases, “we lost him I guess. Maybe he never existed in the first place? What a plot twist.”

They don’t really say too much after that; instead watching the dumb cartoon playing on the television silently and picking corn kernel bits out of their teeth until Junhui finally walks out of the kitchen proudly, not messy _at all_ and holding two absolutely _perfect_ hot chocolates in his hands. “Two hot chocolates for my two favourite people!” Junhui announces, handing one over to Wonwoo, and _all_ of Wonwoo’s suspicions about making a ruckus just to get someone to pay attention to him in the kitchen are suddenly proved 100% right - that _moron_.

“Junhui,” Minghao deadpans, eyes not leaving the screen even when Junhui hands him his hot chocolate and perches himself on the armrest next to him, “we all know that you’re your own favourite person.”

“Hey,” Junhui protests weakly, “let me at least _try_ and be humble.”

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“Seungkwan I’m pretty sure that this is not only _extremely_ creepy, but probably illegal in like, every single country.” It’s seven in the _fucking_  morning just before their shift, but somehow, Seungkwan had managed to kidnap Wonwoo from the staff room and bribe him with a muffin of all things to go creep on (or borderline _stalk_ ) that boy he’d been so infatuated with when he’d had that horribly awkward date with Mingyu and Sujeong about a week ago.

 _Fortunately_ , nothing notable that was Mingyu related had happened since then. Mingyu had stayed in his lane for the most part after Wonwoo had rather reluctantly shown him his class schedule, and there had been no Sujeong sightings or dangerous lunch dates which could result in more _feels_. All Wonwoo had to deal with was Mingyu pestering him during music theory and trying to tell the guy to _not_ put too much chocolate powder on the cappuccinos. So far, so good.

“It’s only creepy if we’re ugly,” Seungkwan reasons with a little more vigour than anyone would need at such an hour (and it’s a dumb reason at that), “I mean look at him! So you see what I mean? He’s probably like, not fully Korean or something, I can’t really tell. His Korean is perfect too, what the hell. I mean he _looks_ more like a foreigner, but like I said, he could just have some really crazy genes.”

“Well I dunno,” is the only thing Wonwoo can think of saying in response to Seungkwan’s early morning ramblings, “he _is_ good looking though, I’ll give you that much.”

“You bet your ass he’s good looking,” the younger boy snorts back, “Boo Seungkwan does _not_ have bad taste in men.”

“But he could be like, a serial killer, so your taste might not be so great.”

“ _Please_ ,” Seungkwan says with a pained expression, turning away from watching the poor sucker sitting at the cafe across the walkway to give Wonwoo _the look_. Wonwoo only wishes they could’ve found a more appealing hiding spot behind the row of trash cans. “Serial killers are confident assholes, and this guy is totally awkward. He _can’t_ be a serial killer.”

“I guess,” Wonwoo drawls slowly, “he also looks pretty straight, though? I don’t know.”

“How does someone _look_ straight to you?” Seungkwan growls at him before turning back to watch the guy again. “You don’t know.”

“Don’t sass me, Boo,” Wonwoo hisses back, and he honestly has the urge to strangle Seungkwan for being so creepy and for pouting so much; but before he gets the chance to finish that thought, Seungkwan is clutching at his shirt sleeve and tugging a little _too_ excitedly.

“Oh _shit_ Wonwoo - I think he spotted us. _Shit_ , this is bad. This is so bad.”

Wonwoo lets out a short bark of laughter before scrambling to get up, pulling Seungkwan off his poor shirt while the boy sits there stunned, the guy staring suspiciously back at them from across the pathway. “The senpai has noticed you, and that means it’s my cue to leave,” Wonwoo announces, backing away slowly with his hands up. He really doesn’t want to be a part of this if it goes awry.

“ _Wonwoo_ ,” Seungkwan squeaks hopelessly, and Wonwoo really can’t help but laugh a little more as Seungkwan continues freaking out on the floor, “come _back_.”

“Good luck Seungkwan!” Wonwoo yells as he shuffles his way back; he watches as the guy starts to make his way from the cafe to where Seungkwan is desperately trying to fix himself up and make it seem less suspicious. Wonwoo _should_ feel sorry for him, but then he remembers that he was taken against his will for this and the fact that Seungkwan had given Mingyu his _number_ after that initial fiasco - and he doesn’t feel so bad anymore. Still _slightly_ guilty, but not too much. “Remember to leave me everything you own in your will!”

The last thing he hears is a strained “ _Wonwoo_ ,” before he slips back inside the Starbucks and scurries behind the counter in time to catch a customer ordering their morning coffee. He works through the first couple of hours pretty diligently, elbowing Seungkwan in the side a couple times after he walks in looking pretty defeated (and he reasons with himself that it’s not cruel because his elbow can’t _possibly_ be as sharp and pointy as Minghao’s).

The morning rush is so _annoying_ for lack of a better word. There’s a lot of grumpy customers in pyjamas crawling in like they’ve just had a return trip to Hell and back. Even their store manager Eunkwang is bustling around trying to keep everything under control, throwing praise at Seungkwan whenever he can and making weird faces at small children in prams (and the kids always seem to enjoy it a _little_ too much).

It’s not until it’s about eleven thirty when everything’s calmed down in terms of people coming in grumpy and exhausted, and instead, it’s people who can’t really give a shit about classes, pretentious hipsters who have brunch dates, or who are well rested and overly cheerful. Wonwoo’s busy making coffee - his hand on the steamer handle when he suddenly realises that _oh shit wait, wasn’t Mingyu supposed to be working today?_ , and ends up pulling down the steamer handle a little too early and - in true Wonwoo fashion - gets a face full of steam and milk. Absolutely _wonderful_.

He catches a grumbling Seulgi by the arm as he’s wiping the remnants of milk off his eyelashes and she turns to him with a dark expression on her features. She looks kind of done with life (like most of them right now - in fact, Yein on dish duty in the back looks about ready to keel over and die), but Wonwoo’s realised that it’s not her usual shift either, and he _needs_ to know what going on. “Hey Seulgi,” he starts, shrinking back a little when Seulgi raises a brow at him, “isn’t Mingyu supposed to be in today?”

“Oh,” is what Seulgi says to him before visibly relaxing and shaking Wonwoo off her arm. “Figures you wouldn’t know - since you were busy checking out Seungkwan’s boy toy and all,” she tells him with a smile, and Wonwoo almost misses Seungkwan turning his head in their direction to scowl at Seulgi. “He’s sick today. Called in like, an hour before the shift started so when Eunkwang texted me I had to hike it all the way over here from my girlfriend’s place.”

Wonwoo hums in acknowledgement and nods sadly, patting the girl’s shoulder apologetically. He knows the struggle of a surprise shift in the morning. “Poor you.”

“Hell yeah poor me!” Seulgi exclaims, snatching a tea towel from the countertop half-heartedly, “We were about to be all cute and make waffles and shit.”

“I’ll make an Americano for you,” Wonwoo tells her, because _christ_ it looks like she really needs one.

“ _Thank_ you,” she mumbles, pinching Wonwoo’s cheek with a grin and a chuckle when Wonwoo scrunches his nose in disapproval, “your shift is nearly over so make it quick, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

But as luck would have it, after he’s given Seulgi her coffee and she’s said another round of thanks, ruffled his hair and cooed at how adorable he was for being such a good kid  (her words not his) - someone he doesn’t expect to see walks in just when he’s settled himself back behind the counter and _god no,_ it’s not the right time what the hell is going on here _help._ He’s gotta stay professional though, because Eunkwang and Seungkwan are creeping around behind him, so he manages to mumble out an, “Oh, hey Sujeong,” without too much trouble when the girl makes her way up to the counter.

“Hey there,” she greets with a shy smile, and Wonwoo’s insides are twisting up because he’s suddenly so _embarrassed_ again _why is this happening oh god._ He’s already having flashbacks to awkward library meetups, getting asked out and making out with Mingyu - the last of which makes him want to gag. Maybe cry in the corner a little too. “Fancy seeing you here again.”

“Yeah, fancy that.” Wonwoo sounds weak and strained, even to himself, but Sujeong doesn’t seem to notice just how much Wonwoo’s freaking out. Wonwoo never thought he’d be thinking it, but he’s suddenly wishing Mingyu was there to mediate and make him feel a little less awkward - maybe give him some direction as to what to do, and he’s tempted to laugh at himself because Kim Mingyu making him feel less awkward? What a joke. Sujeong looks a little nervous too, now that he’s looking at her again, so he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, and he sounds maybe a _little_ too casual when he asks, “The usual?”

“Yes please,” Sujeong says with a smile, and Wonwoo _thinks_ he can relax a little as he’s punching the order into the computer in front of him by muscle memory. She doesn’t _seem_ very intimidating right now, and everything went perfectly fine before. He _guesses_ they got along fine, but as he hears her next question, he’s tensed up all over again because its, “Is Mingyu around today?” and _no Mingyu is not._ Of course, she’s looking for Mingyu though. Of _course_ (and now he really _is_ desperately wishing that he was here) - but Mingyu is sick, probably crawled up under some bed covers sobbing to himself about it. At least, that’s the image Wonwoo has in his head, and it’s pretty laughable, but wholly impractical.

“No, he isn’t in today,” he tells her a little awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck instinctively, “he called in sick earlier so someone’s filling in for him today. Did you wanna see him?”

“No actually,” Sujeong says hesitantly, “I was hoping he wasn’t here. I wanted to talk to you.” Oh. _Oh? Great_ , now he’s freaking out again; kind of staring at her a little funny, and he _really_ wishes Mingyu was there or _someone_ just to help him out a little with how to deal with Sujeong because he’s so _clueless._ Hell, at this rate he’d even take Junhui.

“U- um,” Wonwoo stutters, “yeah, my shift is over soon, so I guess? I mean, I _could_ go a little earlier.” Smooth. Ten out of ten smoothness, and he wonders why he’s still single.

“Great, thanks, Wonwoo,” is probably the only thing Sujeong knows what to say, and Wonwoo’s thankful of that because he’s not sure what he’d do if she tried to converse with him coherently after his horrific blunder. He stands there shifty-eyed for what seems like an _eternity_ before Seungkwan cautiously slips the cup of coffee across the counter to Sujeong and jolts him out of his daze with a poke in the side.

“Wait,” Wonwoo stops Sujeong as she looks a little panicked herself and starts digging through her bag to grab her purse out, but Wonwoo’s still feeling a little guilty for, well, _everything_ up to this point - so it’s the least he can do. “It’s on the house,” he says, “don’t worry about it.”

Thankfully, Sujeong seems to relax a little more after that, and that makes Wonwoo a little less tense too once she’s smiling and thanking him over and over again. It’s extremely awkward nonetheless, especially when another customer comes in and he’s almost too out of it to function and Seulgi has to come in and save his ass while he guides Sujeong towards a back table.

“So why’d you want to talk?” He ventures, pulling out a chair for Sujeong before he makes his way to the other side and seats himself down across from her. He doesn’t really know what to do with his hands as Sujeong gets comfortable and takes an experimental sip of her coffee, so he settles for fiddling with the hem of his Starbucks shirt which is still probably two sizes too big for him.

“Right,” Sujeong starts, eyes shifting around the shop before settling on her lap, “I’d like to say sorry first for being so weird to you and asking you out. I mean, I probably creeped you out a lot.” She looks at Wonwoo a little warily when she doesn’t get an immediate response, tentatively taking another sip of her drink as he wracks his brain about how to respond.

“There’s really no need to apologise for that again,” Wonwoo reassures, shifting in his chair, “it’s not a big deal, I’m sorry for-”

“Just… just let me explain myself,” she says a little desperately, cutting Wonwoo off, “you were kind of just always here and you’re _super_ cute - so I thought if I flirted with enough that you’d totally have a thing for me or something like that. Stupid of me - _really_ dumb, actually - and it didn’t even work because you’re probably the gayest guy on campus.”

“I’m not _that_ gay. I don’t own any Gucci and I don’t have a shrine for Lady Gaga…”

“ _Hush_ ,” Sujeong holds up a hand to his face and narrows her eyes at him a little, “I’m trying to prove a point here.” Wonwoo shifts back a little but can’t help but smile at how the tension around them is dissipating. Wonwoo’s not really sure if it’s the gay talk or the fact that they’re clearing the air, but the atmosphere is nice again and definitely not as awkward. “That’s basically it though,” Sujeong continues with a small smile of her own, “I don’t have any romantic feelings for you anymore so there’s no need to worry about that.”

Wonwoo laughs and sits back in his chair, running a hand through his hair as he breathes a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know,” he tells her honestly, and she smiles a little wider in response, fingers drumming against the cup in her hands. “I kind of want to apologise too - _again_ \- for like, making out with Mingyu in front of you. It’s really _not_ what you th-”

“I know you two aren’t _actually_ dating,” she interrupts again, a smile growing and Wonwoo’s starting to feel like she’s just getting started with something. “I’m just saying. I’m not _that_ stupid.”

“I-” Wonwoo falters, looking around the shop to see if he can telepathically beg Seungkwan for help; but when Seungkwan looks over, he only gives Wonwoo a questioning look before going back into cleaning the tabletops. Wonwoo’s _sure_ he’s going to spontaneously combust or something because he’s not exactly sure how he’s going to defend this and save face while he’s horribly flustered and extremely embarrassed. “That wasn’t what I was going to-”

“You guys _definitely_ have some chemistry, but there’s just too many holes in your story.” Wonwoo kind of wants to step on Sujeong’s foot or something because she keeps _interrupting him_ , but she’s making some points and looking terribly amused and he still has no idea what to say. “I honestly can’t take the two of you seriously.”

“Are we really what obvious?”

“Yeah,” she scoffs and rolls her eyes, “when I saw you two kissing it kind of made me _think_ you were a thing - but then I thought about it, and nothing really made any sense. I mean, it kind of came out of nowhere and Mingyu _did_ tell me he was going to start working here, so there’s that.” Wonwoo cringes as he thinks back, and yeah, he’ll admit the whole thing was a little gratuitous and unrealistic. That fact makes him cringe even more. “Everything was just _way_ too convenient, and my friend in your music theory class never even saw you talk to each other before then either.”

“Touché,” Wonwoo relents with an awkward shift in his seat, “I’m sorry, I should’ve been the one to apologise in the first place. I lied to you and-”

“No need to explain yourself,” Sujeong cuts in again (and it’s getting _really_ old because Wonwoo would _actually_ like to finish a sentence for once), “but also, what the fuck possessed you to kiss him and pretend to date, oh my _God_ , that’s _so_ impractical.”

Wonwoo can’t help it - he bursts out laughing. He doesn’t even know why he finds it so utterly _hilarious_. Literally, everyone in the shop is probably looking at him - especially Seungkwan and Seulgi giving him the stinkeye from the back corner - because he’s not exactly _quiet_ but _oh my god_. “I _know_ it is,” he manages to cough out through chuckles, “ _ugh_ the whole thing was such a _mistake_.”

Sujeong looks thoroughly amused, resting her chin in the palm of her hand and rolling her eyes. “Besides,” she says a little offhandedly, “the fact that you two hit if off pretty well after-” Wonwoo nearly chokes at that, and she probably takes the hint. “No?” Sujeong asks in amusement, “Well alright. You don’t have to pretend you’re dating for my sake anymore either, just saying.”

Wonwoo takes another moment to calm down, but he shakes his head at that and feels a little sheepish when he tells her, “I kind of promised him that I’d set him up with you. Like we’d fake the breakup and then...” He lets the implication hang in the air for a while, and Sujeong looks like she’s trying to process it before her features turn grim and she recoils a little. Wonwoo nearly starts losing it again, but he tries his best and bites down on the inside of his cheek pretty hard and it _hurts_ but it’s _so_ much better than laughing again.

“I- oh my God, you _did_?” Sujeong hisses, voice lowering and head ducking down towards the table. “Good luck with that. Seriously, you'll need it.”

“Thanks, I’d still like to try and keep my promise with him .”

“Ugh, Mingyu that _dumbass_ ,” Sujeong gripes, chewing on her lip aggressively. She sighs and runs a hand through her long hair and just sits there for a minute before she looks up at Wonwoo and nods, reaching over to pat his shoulder. “Don’t worry Wonwoo, I got your back.”

“Are you even interested in him?” Wonwoo has to ask, and Sujeong’s features morph into somewhat amused again, so he guesses he’s either on the right track or completely off.

“No way. It’s just the fact that I’ve known him since high school, and he’s not my type, so it’s a bit weird.”

“Wait wait wait,” Wonwoo has to hold up his hand while he collects his thoughts. _Woah_  - he thought Mingyu said they’d only known each other for a couple of months? Wonwoo Isn't exactly sure what to make of it, so he has to confirm it again, just in case he’s half deaf and didn’t hear her properly or _something_. Why the hell would Mingyu lie about that? Would Sujeong? “You two went to high school together?”

“Uh yeah,” Sujeong says slowly, now completely and utterly lost within the conversation, and Wonwoo can’t really blame her, “didn’t he tell you?”

“No…”

“Huh, weird. Anyway, I’ve really gotta go, I’ve got some classes to get to.” Sujeong _sounds_ just about as astounded as Wonwoo _feels_ , and she gets up a little reluctantly as she gathers up her belongings and smiles down at Wonwoo gratefully. “See you later then?”

“Of course,” he tells her, but he really has no plans to go Sujeong hunting anytime soon - and he assumes she doesn’t have any plans to have any buddy-buddy time with Wonwoo either. He thinks they’re ok now as they are, but then there’s Mingyu with his whole other problem and it becomes so much more complicated because he _does_ still have to see Sujeong outside Starbucks after this. Wonwoo’s so distracted in his own thoughts that he almost misses Sujeong sliding a small piece of paper to him across the table.

“Here’s my number by the way,” she says gently, “shoot me a text some time? Get me a date with Mingyu or something so you can at least give the poor guy a chance.”

“Sure.” Wonwoo’s put at ease somewhat, and he waves at her as he gets up too. “Thanks again, Sujeong.”

“Anytime.”

Wonwoo gets the hell out of there as soon as possible after Sujeong is gone because he’s absolutely _starving_ and he’d only eaten that muffin Seungkwan had bribed him with before work. He still treks his way over to the convenience store across campus because he’s craving those sweet steamed black bean buns and Soonyoung’s convenience store does the best. It’s there where Soonyoung asks about Mingyu and Wonwoo remembers that the poor guy is sick.

“Damn,” Soonyoung tells him with a snort as Wonwoo’s leaning against the front counter, chewing his way through his second bun and putting Sujeong’s number into his phone, “I hope he’s eating alright. He seems like the type to eat a lot but not look after himself when he’s sick, y’know?” So Wonwoo rips out his messenger app with a muffled squawk and promptly texts the one person he can count on in times of dire need, and gets a raised eyebrow from Soonyoung for his troubles.

**to:** savagehao the gr8   
**from:** wonu   
`> hey hoe`  
`> is that bitch of urs free?`

****from:** ** savagehao the gr8   
**to:**  wonu  
`> ye the bitch is free` 

****from:** ** gayhui   
**to:**  wonu  
`> xcuse me`  
`> you know i dont have class rn just message me instead of hao why are you even messaging my bf get ur own`  
`> do u h8 me that much????`  
`> u wont msg ur bff???? </3`  
`> just tell me what u want twink`

 **to:** gayhui  
**from:** wonu   
`> you`  
`> jkjk`  
`> mingyu's address`  
`> pls`  
`> senpai`  
`> onegaishimasuuuuu`

****from:** ** gayhui   
**to:**  wonu  
`> what are you his stalker???`  
`> i'm not cheap tho what r u offerin for my services`  
`> i'm not an easy gurl`

**to:** gayhui   
**from:** wonu   
`> name ur price beautiful`  
`> i dont see girls like u round here often bby`

****from:** ** gayhui   
**to:**  wonu  
`> i bet u say that to all the pretty ladies`  
`> but for u i'll give u a special deal`  
`> dishes for a week sound good?`  
`> it's the best price i've got for a hot man stud like u`

 **to:** gayhui  
**from:** wonu   
`> omg ok stOP`  
`> junhui`  
`> pls`  
`> it's too much spare me`  
`> but deal`  
`> only if you promise to never call me hot man stud again thats gross`

****from:** ** gayhui   
**to:**  wonu  
`> foine`  
`> here ya go`  
`> you didn't get this from me`  
`> use it wisely grasshopper`  
`> [GAYHUI HAS SENT A LINK]`

**to:** gayhui   
**from:** wonu   
`> i love u senpai`

****from:** ** gayhui   
**to:**  wonu  
`> i love me too`

”Soonyoung, I’m going to need another couple of your buns,” Wonwoo announces as he shoves his phone back into his pocket, and the look Soonyoung gives him is wild - like Wonwoo had just come back from a gang fight or something. He wouldn’t know, but he probably sounds a little wild himself, so he can’t really blame Soonyoung at all.

“I never thought I’d hear anyone say that,” Soonyoung says a little incredulously, but he stuffs a plastic bag with a few more steamed buns and throws in two orange juices for free. “I read your messages over your shoulder,” he tells Wonwoo with a shrug, and he’s really not too surprised or offended because this is _Soonyoung_. Jihoon’s Soonyoung, who works at the convenience store across campus and reads people’s messages over their shoulder. Wonwoo hands over the cash with a bow and a flourish, and heads off with a salute.

“Thanks, man. Your civil service will not be forgotten.”

He gets about 5 minutes away from campus before he remembers that he has _no idea_ where he’s going, so he has to wrestle with his jeans to pull out his phone again and open his maps, tapping in Mingyu’s address with the plastic bag jostling on his arm. He gets there - _eventually_ \- and _damn_ the place is nice. A little pretentious, but nice. It’s obviously too expensive for a university student to pay for on their own, and Wonwoo secretly wonders if Mingyu has a sugar daddy or something; or maybe Junhui just got the wrong address, but as he scans the list of names on the buzzer outside the building, he spots a familiar name.

 _Kim Mingyu_ it says, a panda sticker crudely stuck onto the paper before it was inserted into the list and Wonwoo thinks it _has_  to be the right Mingyu. Who else is going to have a panda sticker next to their name on an intercom in this part of town? So he stands there for a couple minutes contemplating, fiddling with his phone as he weighs the implications of possibly having the wrong place. How is he even going to explain having his address anyway?

 **to:** weird ass guy kim mingyu   
**from:** wonu   
`> for my own sanity`  
`> please just don't be naked rn`

Wonwoo hesitantly reaches forward to press the button next to Mingyu’s name on the intercom and holds his breath, tapping his foot nervously on the ground as he waits for Mingyu - or at least _someone_ to answer it. Someone does, and the video on the screen flickers on to show some who definitely was _not_ Mingyu right up in the camera’s view.

“Uh, hello?” Wonwoo says nervously, more like a question than a greeting, and as the guy all up in the camera backs away, he recognises him and it’s _not_ Mingyu, but dear lord if he’s not wanting the ground to swallow him up right now.

“I know you,” the guy says cheerfully, grinning a little too wide for Wonwoo’s liking, “you were creeping on me with Seungkwan this morning.” That’s it, Wonwoo definitely wants the ground to swallow him up right now. Someone call Satan to drag Wonwoo down into eternal Hell for his long deserved pain and suffering. Anything but _this_.

“Wonwoo?” Comes a much more familiar voice over the intercom, albeit a little groggy and nasally, and Wonwoo unconsciously lets out a sigh of relief because this _was_ Mingyu’s place thank _God_. What that other guy was doing here, he had no clue. “Wait, Wonwoo is that you?” Mingyu continues, and as he enters the frame, staggering and dragging blankets behind him like the poor miserable sucker he is, Wonwoo has the undeniable urge to laugh. “What the hell are you even doing here? Is this what that text was about?”

“Um,” Wonwoo coughs, shifting from one foot to another and clearing his throat a little, “can I come in?”

“Oh,” Mingyu seems to remember that he _actually_ needs to buzz Wonwoo in, and he hears the gate unlock with a sharp buzz next to him, “yeah sure. Of course.”

“Thank you,” Wonwoo mumbles back into the speaker before he slips through the gate and scurries inside the building, hurrying towards the elevator. He’s a little shocked, has a couple questions to ask and is starting to feel a little hungry again; but all he can think of as the elevator makes its way up to the sixth floor is _at least he isn’t naked. Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  This is the last chapter that's already been written! That means irregular updates from now on! They might not be as frequent, but I'll try my absolute best to update this still. Please wish me luck? Hahaha xoxo.  
> 

**Author's Note:**

>   
>    
>  as always comments, kudos, constructive critisism and everything in-between are really loved and appreciated! update soon! xoxo  
>    
> 


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